23 August 2026
(PHOTO: kyivcity.gov.ua)
<span><span><span><span><span><span>An exhibition of paintings by Yegor Tolkunov titled "Kherson, Which Cannot Be Stolen" has opened in Kyiv. The exhibition can be viewed at the Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span>This was reported by the Kyiv City Council.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span>Most of the artist’s paintings were stolen by Russian invaders in the fall of 2022 during the looting of the museum collection at the Oleksiy Shovkunenko Kherson Art Museum, where they were stored.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span> Valentin Mondriyevskyi, deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, emphasized that this exhibition is of particular significance because it preserves the memory of Kherson, its residents, and the indestructible Ukrainian culture, which Russia is trying in vain to erase along with the stolen artifacts.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span><span><span><span><span>“Every artist’s name we preserve, every work we continue to view and study—this is our way of preventing the occupiers from rewriting our history. Today, we feel particularly keenly how important it is to support Kherson and keep its memory alive,” Mondriyevsky noted.</span></span></span></span></span></span>
In the spring of 2026, Ukrainian law enforcement officials charged the head of the occupation-run Central Museum of Tavrida with participating in the mass looting of the Kherson Art Museum, from which nearly 11,000 exhibits disappeared.
Earlier, the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art hosted an exhibition titled “Kherson: NOT/Stolen.” This project is dedicated to the collection that the occupiers removed from the Kherson Regional Art Museum.
Юлія Калабайда