Statement by US/ICOMOS on the Cultural Destruction of Ukraine

The United States National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites deplores the brutality and destruction inflicted by Russian forces as they pursue the conquest of the sovereign state of Ukraine. This action is anathema to the principles upon which the United Nations was founded, to the sustainability of the World Heritage Convention, and basic human decency. It risks igniting a global war of the sort that was the impetus for the formation of the United Nations. It is precisely that threat that Vladimir Putin is using to hold the nations of the world hostage as he pursues his dreams of glory and immortality. We appeal to ICOMOS members in all countries to support Ukraine and to exert all possible influence to stop the aggression that can be traced to the grandiose schemes of a megalomaniac.