The relevant decision was made as a result of monitoring the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, according to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is noted that the conclusions of the report of the Director-General of UNESCO, the data collected by Ukraine and international organizations, indicate a further deterioration of the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

The conclusions also state that the actions of the occupying power significantly threaten freedom of opinion, conscience and religion, the right to peaceful assembly and association, freedom of the media and access to information, and linguistic and cultural rights.

"The most vulnerable groups suffering from human rights violations (including those within UNESCO's remit) are Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians, who are under considerable pressure from the occupying authorities", - informed in the report.

The document also points to the occupation authorities' damage to cultural property belonging to Ukraine and located in the occupied territories, as well as to the reduction of the level of protection of natural heritage due to illegal decisions to change the status of nature reserves.

According to the decision, it is expected that the Director-General of UNESCO will present the next report on the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea at the 212th session of the Executive Board based on the results of full-fledged comprehensive monitoring.

"The approval of this decision once again confirms the strong position of the international community in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state and is an important tool for countering Russia's aggressive policy and an element of consolidating international efforts to deoccupy Crimea", - the First Deputy Minister Emine Dzhaparova announced.

What is known

• As of January 2021, UNESCO has carried out a number of missions to Ukraine to monitor the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea in the fields of science and information and has begun monitoring in the field of education. The next step should be monitoring in the field of culture and cultural heritage.
• The decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the admissibility of “Ukraine v. Russia” for human rights violations in the occupied Crimea is significant in the process of bringing Russia to justice.