Museum robbery in Kherson: "director" from Crimea is suspected

The occupation director of the Central Museum of Tavrida in Crimea was served a notice of suspicion of stealing almost 11,000 exhibits from the Kherson Art Museum named after O. Shovkunenko.

This was announced by Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko.

According to the investigation, the key participant in the robbery was the so-called "director" of the Central Museum of Tavrida, who personally selected the exhibits in the fall of 2022, organized their packaging and transportation from Kherson.

The attacker acted in collusion with representatives of the occupation administration - the "Minister of Culture" of Kherson region, his deputy and the "director" of the seized museum.

As a result, almost 11,000 exhibits from the museum's pre-war collection, which included about 14,000 items, were stolen.

The suspect's actions are classified as a violation of the laws and customs of war committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He faces 8 to 12 years in prison. The issue of putting him on the wanted list is currently being decided.

The other accomplices have already been served with a notice of suspicion, and additional persons involved are being identified.

The prosecutor's office emphasizes that the theft of Ukrainian cultural property is a systemic policy of Russia, not an isolated case. Ukraine is working to recover the stolen property and bring the perpetrators to justice.

In turn, the media note that it is probably Andriy Malgin.

Earlier, Intent wrote that employees of the Kherson Art Museum told about another painting stolen by the occupiers. This is a painting by the famous Lithuanian artist Raimondas Savickas called "At the Ancient Wall".

Earlier, the museum's website reported that in the fall of 2022, Russians stole 147 paintings by Kherson artist Oleksii Shovkunenko, which were stored in the museum of the same name. Only nine works survived, of which one is kept in the museum.

Андрій Колісніченко