Photo:Andriy Kostin/Wikipedia
In an interview with the Voice of America on 4 October, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that some historical artefacts stolen by Russia in Ukraine had ended up on global black markets. Russia’s full-scale invasion was accompanied by massive looting of cultural heritage in the occupied territories, with hundreds of artefacts reported stolen.
“In addition to the systematic destruction of our cultural heritage, Russia is resorting to another crime: the theft of valuable cultural objects,” Kostin said. He added that there is already enough evidence to open a new criminal investigation.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office is working with the US Department of Justice and the FBI to collect evidence. A new unit has been created to investigate crimes against cultural heritage, which will deal with both the destruction of cultural sites during the war and attempts to illegally sell artefacts abroad.
According to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, since the start of the full-scale war, as of 4 October, nearly 2,100 cultural institutions, including 120 museums and galleries, have been damaged or destroyed. Earlier this year, Ukraine managed to return a number of Crimean artefacts known as “Scythian gold” after a decade-long legal battle with the Russian occupation authorities on the peninsula.
This situation underscores the importance of international cooperation in preserving cultural heritage and combating its theft.
