ALIPH Allocates $30K to Restore Odesa's Cultural Heritage After Attack

The international charitable organization ALIPH has allocated 30 thousand dollars (1.26 million hryvnias) to eliminate the consequences of the rocket attack on the historic center of Odesa that took place on the evening of January 31.

This was reported by Oleksandra Kovalchuk, co-founder of the Museum for Change initiative.

According to her, the funds will be used for urgent restoration work in the premises of the Odesa Philharmonic, a branch of the Literary Museum, the State Archives and other institutions. The funding will also allow for architectural research and drawing up defect reports for further restoration.

Currently, the Philharmonic building is collecting and sorting fragments of stained glass windows that were blown out by the blast. Each fragment is labeled for identification by restorers. Larysa Pisha, a specialist in monumental stained glass from Kyiv, joined the work, and the Museum for Change team is working with experts from the International Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Stained Glass (ISCCSG ICOMOS - CVMA).

The experts came to the conclusion that all the stained glass windows in the Philharmonic should be dismantled, even those that seemed to be intact. Moreover, even before the missile attack, they were in poor condition and needed restoration. To preserve the fragments, the organization Thousand Doors of Odesa is making special boxes, and the ideal option for conservation would be to use acid-free paper or Tyvek, which are scarce materials that take time to deliver.

According to Kovalchuk, the team hopes to complete these priority tasks within a month.

On January 31, Russians deliberately hit the historic center of Odesa with three Iskander-M ballistic missiles. As a result of the missile attack on the city, about 15 cultural heritage sites were damaged.

As for the claims that the head of Ukraine's intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, was staying at the hotel, they turned out to be false. Instead, diplomats from Norway were staying there.

Recently, the Odesa National Art Museum restored the historic doors that were damaged during a rocket attack on Sofiivska Street in 2023. The front door was completely restored and returned to its authentic appearance.

Ірина Глухова