In Mykolaiv region, "black archaeologists" avoid punishment for excavation of Scythian mound

The court closed the case against three residents of Mykolaiv region. They were accused of excavating a Scythian mound in search of ancient artifacts.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Kazankivsky District Court of Mykolaiv Region.

According to the investigation, in June and November 2020, in the village of Skobelevo, "black archaeologists" bulldozed a Scythian mound of the Vysunsky group of royal burials, about 2,500 years old, for several months. The work was carried out using an excavator and a bulldozer without license plates. During the work, they partially destroyed the mound, removing the top layer of soil in search of archaeological artifacts.

Local residents noticed the work and reported it to the police, but law enforcement officers did not find the offenders on the spot. The equipment was arrested, but the court did not allow the investigation to go further, and it was returned.

The case gained wide publicity when Mykolaiv archaeologist Oleksandr Smirnov informed civic activist Ilya Zelinsky about the situation after receiving calls from local residents. At the site, they found a hole over 12 meters deep and representatives of the security firm Varta LLC from Odesa Oblast, who were allegedly guarding the equipment.

It turned out that the tenant of the fields around the mound was a former deputy of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, Yuriy Kormyshkin. He claimed that he had not hired any security company and had filed a complaint with the police about the damage to his crops.

The investigation qualified their actions as unauthorized occupation of state land and intentional damage to cultural heritage sites. According to estimates by the Department of Culture, Religions and Nationalities of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, the damage to the state amounted to more than 2,000 hryvnias.

At the court hearing, the suspects admitted that they were aware of the consequences of being released from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations and asked to close the case. The court granted their request, canceled the seizure of property and closed the criminal proceedings. The civil lawsuit for damages was left without consideration, but the Department of Culture has the right to take legal action in a civil manner.

In the summer, part of a mound group, an archaeological site of local significance near the village of Slyvyno, was damaged due to agricultural work in Mykolaiv region. The violations were referred to the police and prosecutors for investigation.

Анна Бальчінос