Unesco adds ancient Greek city Tauric Chersonese in Crimea to World Heritage in Danger list

Unesco added the Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora, a 5th-century BC Greek city in Russian-occupied Crimea, to the World Heritage in Danger list on July 22, 2026, during the 48th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea (July 19–29). The site was inscribed in 2013 as a Ukrainian World Heritage property, shortly before Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Ukrainian culture minister Tetyana Berezhna said the decision recognizes threats from occupation, including illegal excavations, construction, destruction of archaeological context, and removal of cultural objects, and urged protection of other Crimean sites such as the Khan’s Palace in Bakhchisarai. The committee also kept three Ukrainian sites—Saint Sophia Cathedral and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, and the historic centres of Lviv and Odesa—on the endangered list due to the “imminent threat” from Russia’s ongoing aggression, noting recent damage including a June strike on Kyiv-Pechersk and earlier harm to Saint Sophia Cathedral.

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