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May 1, 2026, 2:15 p.m.
Stolen paintings from Kherson are shown to the world again in Kyiv
This article also available in English1
Photo: Ukrinform
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine hosted the opening of the exhibition "Returning the Memory of Kherson. Stolen Art Preserved in Museum Art Prints".
According to the Kherson Art Museum's Facebook page, the event was an important step in drawing the international community's attention to crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage.
The project was implemented by the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko in cooperation with the Vivid Fusion Art platform. The exhibition was previously presented at the Kyiv Museum.
The exhibition features 30 reproductions of works of art that were stolen by the Russian occupiers in the fall of 2022. In total, almost 11 thousand exhibits were illegally taken from the museum.
The opening ceremony was held by Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa. She emphasized that the theft of cultural property is a war crime and part of an attempt to destroy Ukrainian identity. According to her, all the recorded facts will become evidence for international courts.
Alina Dotsenko, the museum's director, said that thanks to the digital archive, Interpol was involved in the search for the stolen works. These materials became the basis for creating art prints that allow preserving cultural heritage in the public space.
Vivid Fusion co-founder Hanna Kryvolap noted that even if the works are physically lost, their content and significance remain part of Ukrainian culture.
The opening was attended by representatives of the authorities, the cultural community, law enforcement officers, journalists, and Kherson residents. In particular, the first deputy chairman of the regional council, Yuriy Sobolevsky, and representatives of the regional administration took part.
As a reminder, on February 5, 2025, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree imposing sanctions against museums in the temporarily occupied Crimea, where Russians took valuable exhibits from Kherson museums.
According to the Kherson Museum of Art, the Russian invaders stole more than 10,000 museum items. Among the stolen items are not only paintings, but also graphic works and 12 sculptures, including a majolica by Mikhail Vrubel.
In addition, the museum estimated that the invaders took more than 10 paintings with children as the main characters from their collection.
After that, the museum in Kherson, looted by the occupiers, received protection for more than 800 thousand hryvnias. It will be guarded by the Security Police Department.
Earlier, Intent wrote that Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions were among the ten regions where cultural heritage sites were most affected by Russian aggression.
