Russians have stolen at least 164 artifacts from occupied Crimea – Ukraine’s intelligence

From the temporarily occupied Crimea, the Russian occupiers illegally removed 164 archaeological artifacts found during excavations of the ancient cities of Nýmphaion and Panticapaeum.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported this.

Ukraine's intelligence has published data on 14 Russian museums that are engaged in propaganda in the temporarily occupied territories and help steal Ukrainian cultural values.

According to the department, since 2022, Russian museums have been organizing:

• exhibitions,
• lectures,
• educational programs aimed at legitimizing the occupation.

In this way, they are trying to integrate Ukrainian museums into the Russian cultural space.

Among those involved, Ukraine's intelligence identified the director of the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum Irina Zhukova, who, in 2024, organized the establishment of "unity through the ages" in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region to promote the "historical connection of Donbas with Russia."

Also, the director of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Aleksander Shkolik, organizes the distribution of Russian propaganda.

In 2023, training sessions were conducted at his museum to instruct museums from occupied Donetsk on promoting Russian history to their visitors.

The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, who heads the History of the Fatherland foundation and the Russian Historical Society, which has seven branches in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, also helped steal the heritage.

The War&Sanctions website has already collected data on 996 stolen objects and 260 people involved in the plunder of Ukrainian cultural heritage, the distortion of history and Ukrainian identity.

For reference:

As Rubryka wrote, since 2014, Russia has been waging an open war against Ukraine, including humanitarian aggression. This involves the destruction, theft, and appropriation of Ukraine's historical and cultural heritage. The enemy commits numerous crimes, such as attempting to erase national memory by targeting archaeological, architectural, and cultural monuments. Rubryka's article, "Stolen Heritage: Russia's archaeological crimes, " reveals more details."

It should be noted that the Russian occupiers destroyed an ancient fresco in the "Khan's Palace" in occupied Bakhchisarai, Crimea. The builders decided that the fresco was just old plaster and removed the coating.

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