August 2023 saw a surge in Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine, with drones striking Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Odesa. Six UNESCO‑listed sites in Odesa, including the 19th‑century Alexandru Sturdza House, were damaged. The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture recorded 148 heritage sites as damaged or destroyed in the month alone. Ukrainian activist groups have lodged complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Russian cultural destruction, but no indictments have been issued yet.

Bijan Rouhani, senior researcher on the Endangered Archaeology project, says the legal framework is strong on paper but fails in practice. He notes that satellite imagery and monitoring provide ample evidence, yet “the obstacle is jurisdiction and political will”. The only ICC war‑crime conviction for heritage damage remains the 2016 case of Ahmad al‑Faqi al‑Mahdi, sentenced to nine years for destroying mausoleums in Timbuktu.

The article cites further examples: the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza was largely destroyed in a 2023 Israeli strike; over 200,000 buildings have been damaged in Gaza’s war. In Iran, more than 100 sites – including Tehran’s Golestan Palace and Isfahan’s Naqsh‑e Jahan Square – suffered damage during the February 2023 aerial campaign. Sudan’s civil war threatens the Meroë pyramids, with UNESCO warning that preservation work has halted. Local and international bodies such as the Aliph Foundation and Blue Shield International are providing emergency‑response teams and “heritage ambulances” to move and safeguard artefacts, while also documenting damage despite personal risk. Nonetheless, looting remains rampant, exemplified by the mass theft of artefacts in Iraq and Syria during the ISIS occupation and the 2023 stripping of Khartoum’s national museum by the RSF.