Ukraine prepares lawsuits against Russia for cultural destruction - acting Minister of Culture

He said this in a comment to Espreso correspondent Kateryna Halko.

When asked by journalists how Russia would be held accountable, he replied: “Today, it remains an open question, and unfortunately, we do not have an answer because the war is not over yet. Relevant lawsuits are being prepared but have not yet been filed. We are in constant consultation with international partners.”

The damage caused by Russia is currently being recorded.

"We are registering all our losses and documenting the destruction according to several protocols, including our national Ukrainian protocol. Additionally, we are implementing international protocols into our working agenda, thanks to the cooperation with UNESCO," Karandieiev said.

According to him, work is currently underway to prepare a "formula" that will be used to file lawsuits against Russia.

"This is not an easy matter. It may seem simple to adopt the formulas used worldwide by organizations like UNESCO. However, like any normative document, especially those of a legal nature, it requires serious preparation and consideration of many aspects. The most important thing is that this work is underway. We hope that in a couple of months, we will have finalized solutions that will help us avoid duplicating the documentation of losses under different protocols, and instead, achieve it within one unified approach," said the acting head of the Ministry of Culture.

He also explained which courts the lawsuits are being prepared for.

"This is the International Court of Human Rights, this is the Hague Tribunal, and in the end we are talking about the destruction of property, we are talking about the loss of cultural heritage, which also has its value, so the economic part is also important here. And of course, we are talking about premeditated genocide, killing people, destruction of Ukrainian, national, cultural identity, which is also protected by international law today, and with a proper evidence base, can and should be properly assessed and condemned," added Rostyslav Karandieiev.

• On May 20, a 100-year-old building of the Zaliznychnyk cultural center, an architectural monument, was destroyed in Izium as a result of a nighttime Russian attack on the Kharkiv region.