Photo: Depositphotos
Russian occupants continue to systematically plunder Ukrainian cultural heritage in the temporarily occupied territories. This was reported on 24 March by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, which published the names of 14 Russian museum workers who facilitate the theft of Ukrainian artefacts and engage in propaganda.
According to intelligence, the invaders took at least 164 archaeological objects found during excavations of the ancient Greek cities of Nymphaeum and Pantikapaion from the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea. These items are part of Ukraine’s historical heritage and were to be stored under its jurisdiction.
The GUR emphasises that since 2022, Russian museums have been actively conducting propaganda activities in the occupied territories. Under the guise of exhibitions, lectures and cultural and educational programmes, they are trying to legitimise the occupation, integrate Ukrainian museums into the Russian cultural space and destroy Ukrainian identity.
Among the persons involved in these crimes:
– Iryna Zhukova, director of the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum, who in 2024 organised the exhibition “Unity through the Ages” in the occupied Luhansk region, aimed at “proving” the historical connection between Donbas and Russia;
– Oleksandr Shkolnik, director of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, which in 2023 provided training for museum workers from Donetsk on how to promote Russian history.
According to the War&Sanctions portal, 996 stolen cultural objects and 260 people involved in the looting of Ukrainian heritage, falsification of history and erasure of the Ukrainian cultural presence have been documented.
The DIU emphasises that all those who try to rewrite history and destroy the Ukrainian national identity will be brought to justice. Ukraine is recording these crimes to bring the perpetrators to justice at the international level.
