UNESCO documents destruction with satellite images
The UN cultural organization UNESCO uses before and after satellite images to document damage and destruction to cultural institutions in Ukraine. To date, she had listed 207 damaged sites. The information is now being collected on a specially created online platform, which will initially be available to experts, but will soon also be available to the public, as the director of the UNESCO Department for Culture and Emergencies, Krista Pikkat, reported in Geneva today.
Among other things, it shows the theater in Mariupol, where hundreds of civilians sought refuge shortly after the war began in March. On March 16, Russian bombs destroyed much of the building. The images selected by UNESCO are from March 9th and May 12th. According to Pikkat, the seven World Heritage sites in Ukraine have so far been spared.
Cooperation with UNOSAT
For the evaluation, UNESCO is collaborating with UNOSAT in Geneva, the satellite observation program of the United Nations Training and Research Institute (UNITAR).
When UNESCO receives information about the damage to museums, churches, synagogues, libraries, monuments and historical sites, UNOSAT buys satellite images from commercial providers, taken as close as possible before and after an attack. According to UNOSAT, such images cost between 250 and more than 1,000 euros, depending on the procurement. Experts prepare the satellite images to show the exact destruction.
The images are used to document the time and extent of the destruction, among other things to help draw up plans for reconstruction, Pikkat said.