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More than 100,000 stolen Ukrainian exhibits were discovered in Russian museums. And most of them, according to experts, cannot be returned to their historical homeland. Many artifacts were removed even before the restoration of Ukraine’s independence, but the Russians continued to loot the country even after the start of the full-scale invasion, FREEDOM reports.
Cultural values stolen by the Russians have returned to Ukraine. The artifacts were seized by the US Customs and Border Protection. These are axes and picks of the 17th century and swords forged before our era.
“In June 2022, the US Customs and Border Protection Service detained an antique object, which after appropriate research turned out to be a European iron ax of the 17th century. with a hammer on the back. The ax was illegally exported from Ukraine to the territory of the United States of America. Also, in June of last year, artifacts illegally imported to the United States from Russia were seized. In particular, three iron axes of the 17th century, three picks of the 17th century, two iron Scythian swords of the 6th century. to n. e., as well as one iron spear tip approximately 500-1200 BC. e.”, from a message on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine (OPU).
The Russian occupiers call the theft of Ukrainian heritage “evacuation”. Under this pretext, before the liberation of Kherson by Ukraine, the Russians took away 15,000 unique works of art: icons, jewelry, and weapons from the regional local history museum. Museum exhibits are planned to be exported from Sevastopol to Russia according to the same scheme.
“The most important task of civil defense is the evacuation of the population, material and cultural values to safe areas. It is resolved both in advance in peacetime and when civil defense plans (CDF) are put into effect,” according to a statement from the occupation authorities of Crimea.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers record all public information about valuables stolen by Russia. And according to the journalists of the “Texts” publication, there are 110,000 of them only in the Hermitage and the State Historical Museum of Russia. After the victory in the war, Ukraine intends to apply to international institutions with a lawsuit against the aggressor country and demand the return of all stolen exhibits.
“We are preparing for the fact that after the end of the hostilities, we will turn to international institutions with a prepared lawsuit against Russia with a demand to return everything stolen. We are currently searching for such items as much as possible and recording their list,” said Acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Rostyslav Karandeev on the broadcast of the “Edyny Novyni” marathon.
What Russia cannot appropriate, it destroys. Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, Museums of Ukrainian Antiquities of Vasyl Tarnovsky in Chernihiv and Grigory Skovoroda in Kharkiv Region, Polovtsian stone sculptures near Izyum. As of September 21, UNESCO verified 290 damages to cultural objects of Ukraine. A large part cannot be restored. Their reconstruction can be facilitated by the status of UNESCO world heritage and heritage in danger. To the latter, at the meeting in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the organization included the Hagia Sophia and the monastic buildings of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, as well as the historical center of Lviv.
“In addition to the risk of direct attack, these facilities are also vulnerable to shock waves caused by the bombing of the two cities. Even in view of the numerous actions taken by the Ukrainian authorities to protect their cultural assets, UNESCO notes that these two heritage sites of outstanding universal value remain under constant threat from the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022,” — from the publication on the UNESCO website.
In January 2023, the historic center of Odessa was added to the endangered list. And on September 25, the security zone became a target for Russian missiles. The next in line for the status of “UNESCO heritage under threat” is the historical part of Chernihiv, which has already been subjected to Russian attacks several times.
