The resolution “Countering the Erasure of Cultural Identity in War and Peace,” initiated by the Ukrainian delegation to PACE and adopted with 103 votes in favor, condemns the systematic state policy of Russification implemented by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine since 2014, including the denial of Ukrainian cultural identity, language, literature, and history.

The document contains unprecedented statements in support of Ukrainian culture and the preservation of Ukrainian identity. The resolution also states that the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage and the erasure of cultural identity in Ukraine constitute war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and indicate a genocidal intent to destroy the Ukrainian national identity.

The adopted resolution calls on PACE member states to:

• Ratify the Council of Europe conventions on the protection of cultural heritage.
• Strengthen sanctions for arbitrary military destruction not justified by “urgent military necessity.”
• Expand the scope of its legal regulation to include violations against cultural heritage.
• Provide for full reparations based on international law and guarantee non-recurrence of destruction.
• Strengthen the ability to combat illicit trafficking in cultural property, as well as to ensure that authorities and state institutions involved are held accountable.
• Develop training for military, police, customs, and justice officials to assist in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of cultural heritage offenses.
• Raise awareness of how propaganda, imperial, and neo-imperial practices can create the basis for violations of international law, including against cultural heritage.
• Raise awareness of the targeted indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children in the occupied territories by Russia.

Among other things, PACE member states will assist Ukraine in documenting and preserving evidence of crimes committed by the Russian Federation against tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Ukraine, in particular, to assess damages and obtain reparations.

The resolution is an important foundation for holding Russia accountable for its encroachment on Ukrainian identity.

PACE also approved an amendment on the oppression of indigenous peoples in Russia and determined that Russia is pursuing a policy of Russification of numerous indigenous peoples, gradually erasing their cultural identity and depriving them of their historical memory.