More than 6,000 antiquities have been found, including swords, swords, helmets, amphorae and coins – We are recovering what Putin is fighting for, our identity and our culture, says the Ukrainian Minister of Culture.
The Kyiv announced today the confiscation of the “biggest” collection of antiquities in its history Of Ukrainewith the works in the collection allegedly stolen from museums on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed to the Russian Federation, before ending up in the hands of private collectors.
“More than 6,000 antiquities, including swords, swords, helmets, amphorae and coins, were found in a raid by Ukrainian police,” Attorney General Irena Venediktova told a news conference.
THE value of the collection is estimated “to many millions of dollars“, He added.
On the occasion, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office invited journalists to the Museum of Ukrainian History in Kyiv to report the details of the operation, presenting some of the seized items.
According to Venediktova, Bronze Age and medieval works were found in an office in the Ukrainian capital “in conditions that were not suitable for storing such objects.”
The prosecutor explained that a raid was carried out as part of an investigation into the “illegal activity” of a former Ukrainian lawmaker, who was also a senior official in Crimea.
According to her, part of the collection “may have been stolen” from Crimean museums.
Interior Minister Dennis Monastirski said it was a “unique” discovery made after “thirteen investigations in five days”.
“The items found at the facility were transported in two trucks,” he told reporters.
Also present at the press conference, Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko expressed satisfaction that he saw “the largest illegal collection in the history of Ukraine (…) being returned to the state.”
“During the war, we are regaining what (Russian President) Vladimir Putin is fighting for: our identity, our culture and our cultural heritage,” he said.
Venediktova added that her office is currently investigating “the theft by (Russian) invaders of a collection of gold from the Scythians” – a nomadic equestrian people living in the Crimea for hundreds of years. – exhibited in a museum in Melitopol, a city in southern Ukraine currently occupied by the Russian army.
She also accused the Russian authorities of “looting” the museums of Crimea, which was annexed to Russia in 2014. “Russia is not only trying to kill our state, to kill our nation, but also to steal our history,” she said indignantly. Benedict.
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