Occupation Minister of Culture from Kherson region organized robberies of museums

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) has published the data of people involved in the theft of cultural property in the occupied Kherson region as part of the Stolen Heritage project.

This was reported by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

The register of those involved in the robbery of Ukrainian museums includes Artem Lahoyskyi, the so-called "Minister of Culture" of the occupied Kherson region. According to intelligence, he was not only the organizer but also the direct perpetrator of the theft of cultural heritage.

The collaborator personally organized the removal of more than 10 thousand exhibits from the Shovkunenko Kherson Art Museum and unique paintings from the Novokakhovka Gallery. In addition, together with the Russian military, he stole the ashes of Grigory Potemkin from St. Catherine's Cathedral.

Lahoisky already has a history of criminal proceedings: in 2023, he was suspected of collaboration, and in September 2025, the Kherson City Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison in absentia. In January 2026, the defendant was served with a new suspicion for participating in the robbery of an art museum. The offender is currently wanted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and his name is included in the register of persons involved in the theft of cultural property on the War & Sanctions portal.

The list of those involved in the robbery also includes the so-called governor of Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, and the permanent representative of the occupied region to the Russian government, Vladimir Bodelan. According to the investigation, in just a few days in the fall of 2022, the occupiers took 10,785 pieces of cultural property that are state property of Ukraine from the funds of the Shovkunenko Kherson Art Museum.

In general, during this period, the invaders almost completely devastated the city's museum collections , transporting the stolen goods to Crimea and Russia under the guise of 'evacuation'.

Катерина Глушко