Russian troops stole tens of thousands of works of art and historical exhibits in Ukraine, including antiquity objects, writes The New York Times.
From museums in the occupied territories of Ukraine, tens of thousands of exhibits were seized -from ancient Scythian gold to modern avant -garde works, the newspaper writes. According to experts surveyed by the newspaper, this is the largest theft of works of art since the Second World War.
At the same time, experts believe, the purpose of this theft is not only to seize material and historical values, but also to deprive Ukraine of its cultural heritage.
The publication writes that according to the prosecutor’s office and data of the Museums of Ukraine, only in Kherson the Russians stole more than 15,000 arts of art and objects of historical significance. According to well -known data, the Russians robbed or completely destroyed more than 30 museums, including in Mariupol, Melitopol and Kherson. These figures relate only to that part of cultural values, the seizure of which is documented, therefore, it is expected that in fact the extent of theft is significantly larger.
According to eyewitnesses (guards and museum employees), looting was centralized and systematic, the seizure of exhibits took place under the leadership of Russian experts.
According to the senior adviser to The Art Loss Register (an organization that is engaged in the search for stolen art objects) James Ratcliffe, we are talking about the implementation of the plan pre -prepared by the invaders. “This is not the same as if the military hid a silver bowl in a backpack,” he said.
At the same time, says Retcliffe, every international auction house that will receive objects from Ukraine will carefully check them.
The publication notes that international organizations stolen from the museums of Ukraine and historical exhibits, including UNESCO and Interpol, have been engaged in 2014, when the Russians have seized the funds of Ukrainian museums in temporarily occupied Crimea.