UNESCO declares borshch protected Ukrainian heritage at risk from Russian invasion

Ukrainian chef Yevhenii Marshal cooks borshch at a traditional cuisine restaurant, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 1, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Ukraine claimed victory in an age-old culinary dispute with Russia on Friday after the United Nations' cultural agency placed a traditional beetroot soup on its list of protected Ukrainian cultural heritage.

Paris-based UNESCO announced in a statement that it had placed borshch, a rich crimson soup packed with vegetables, on a list of cultural heritage in need of "urgent safeguarding" due to the risk posed to the soup's status as an element of Ukraine's cultural heritage by Moscow's invasion.