Looters' exhibition: in Genichesk, the occupiers exhibited copies of stolen paintings from Kherson

An exhibition was organized in occupied Henichesk to mark March 8. The invaders are showing prints of paintings from the looted Kherson Art Museum to Oleksiy Shovkunenko.

This was reported by the Kherson Art Museum.

The exhibition was organized in the cinema until March 8. According to museum workers, the easels are not originals, but ordinary printed reproductions. The occupiers cynically use images from the collection of the Kherson museum, to which they have nothing to do.

"Their level of cynicism is simply off the charts. The vast majority of images in this 'exhibition' are stolen paintings. And next to them are prints of the works that miraculously remained in the walls of the native museum. What they failed to steal physically, they are trying to steal visually, simply copying what does not belong to them and will never belong to them," the museum said in a statement.

The museum staff managed to identify the works presented at the occupation exhibition.

The museum staff managed to recognize specific paintings from their own collections: Kherson Art Museum

The photographs also show the occupation of Minister of Culture Artem Lahoyskyi, who was served with a notice of suspicion of misappropriation of valuables by the SBU in January 2026.

Occupation Minister Artem Lahoyskyi Photo: Kherson Art Museum

He was accompanied by the occupation director of the museum, Natalia Desyatova, who was found guilty of collaboration in absence by the Kherson City Court in 2025.

The occupation director of the museum Natalia Desyatova. Photo: Kherson Art Museum

The museum reminded that during the occupation of Kherson, the Russian military took away a significant part of the museum collection. Currently, the stolen paintings, according to available information, may be stored at the Central Museum of Tavrida in Crimea or elsewhere, but the exact fate of many works is still unknown.

Museum officials emphasized that all these works are part of the State Museum Fund of Ukraine and belong to the Ukrainian people. The museum also stated that it records all cases of illegal use of its collections, including in the form of digital copies.

Ірина Глухова