10 July 2025
(Photo: Odesa Customs)
A Ukrainian woman tried to export an ancient image of Christ the Almighty through the Orlivka checkpoint.
This was officially reported on the website of the Odesa Customs.
The icon, which has signs of cultural and historical value, was carefully hidden in the car's interior in a luggage box for small items.
The wooden base of the icon has the remains of a label.
The inscription indicates that it was sold in the Shestopalov and Krotov Trading House, a well-known pre-revolutionary Odesa business.
The seized icon belongs to cultural and historical property, its value and date of creation will be determined by an expert examination, and its further fate will be determined by the court.
The detention and seizure of the icon was carried out by Odesa customs officers jointly with representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine in Odesa region and the Izmail border guard detachment.
A report on the incident was sent to law enforcement.
As a reminder, we wrote about a bribe-taker at Odesa customs. The official demanded money for the unimpeded movement of consumer goods across the customs border.
The SBU claims that in case of refusal to pay, the carriers were threatened with additional inspections, which delayed customs control and disrupted the delivery of goods.
The offender was detained while receiving a $5,000 bribe to facilitate the import of a batch of spare parts for mobile devices.
However, it is not only valuables that are exported abroad; often, especially during martial law, Ukrainian talent is forced to leave the country. This phenomenon is popularly called the brain drain.
This is how Lada Kopytova, a short film director, talks about emigration in an exclusive material for Intent.
Олександра Горст