Ex-deputy of Kherson district council robbed a museum and was suspected of looting

In Kherson, a member of the district council was notified of suspicion of collaboration and organization of the export of cultural property from the museum to Crimea. The former school principal sided with the enemy and contributed to the looting of 10,000 exhibits.

This is stated in the suspicion of the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to the pre-trial investigation, Oleksandr Kuzmenko voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the Russian occupation administration in May 2022. He held the position of Head of the Department of Culture, Sports and Youth in the so-called "military-civilian administration of the Kherson region" and later the Minister of Culture of the Kherson region in the same structure.

Between October 31 and November 4, 2022, on the instructions of the Russian occupation administration and with Kuzmenko's direct participation, 10,223 museum objects were taken from the collections of the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after O.O. Shovkunenko. Among them are 1,674 paintings, 8,263 graphic works, 12 sculptures, 274 objects of decorative and applied art, as well as items from the scientific and auxiliary and educational and exhibition funds.

Representatives of the occupation administration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as experts in the field of culture and art, were involved in this process. They were responsible for the packaging, transfer and transportation of cultural property to Crimea, where the exhibits were transferred to the Central Museum of Tavrida in Simferopol.

Kuzmenko personally supervised and checked the progress of the work, carrying out general management of the activities of the occupation military-civilian administration of the Kherson region in the field of culture. His actions are qualified as a violation of international treaties and the laws and customs of war, in particular, according to which he acted by prior conspiracy by a group of persons.

According to the criminal legislation of Ukraine, he faces liability for cooperation with the aggressor state, organization and assistance in the theft of the cultural heritage of the state during a military conflict.

Oleksandr Viktorovych Kuzmenko, a deputy of the Suvorov District Council in Kherson, was served a notice of suspicion of committing criminal offenses under Part 2 of Art. 111 (high treason), Part 5 of Art. 111-1 (cooperation), Part 2 of Art. 28 (committing a crime by a group of persons) and Part 1 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).

According to Slidstvo. Info, the so-called Minister of Culture of Kherson region is a former music teacher. Prior to the outbreak of full-scale war, he was the director of music school No. 4, and previously taught at art school No. 1. In 2010, he was a deputy of the Stepanivka village council from the now-banned Communist Party of Ukraine. In 2020, he became a deputy of the Suvorov District Council in Kherson from the Volodymyr Saldo Bloc party. His wife, Olena Kuzmenko, also began to cooperate with the occupation authorities after the occupation of Kherson.

In February, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to confiscate all of Kuzmenko's property. His share in a house, a land plot, and an apartment in Kherson were transferred to the state.

Also, the pseudo-director Natalia Desyatova, a former singer who headed the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after Shovkunenko during the Russian occupation, was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison.

Анна Бальчінос