UN steps up satellite tracking of damage to Ukraine culture

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s cultural and satellite agencies have joined forces to more systematically track the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the country’s architecture, art, historic buildings and other cultural heritage, and have compiled an initial list of more than 200 sites that have been damaged or destroyed. Geneva-based UNOSAT and UNESCO announced Wednesday that they are finalizing a database of cultural sites that compares “before and after” images bought from private-sector satellite companies. These will be used to inform experts in a first phase and eventually the wider public about the devastation wreaked on Ukraine’s patrimony.