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Ukrainian authorities say the Russian invasion of Ukraine coincided with the destruction and looting of industrial-scale historical sites and treasures.
In an interview with The Associated Press (AP), Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko claimed that Russian soldiers helped him make artifacts in nearly 40 Ukrainian museums.
The minister added that looting and destruction of cultural sites is estimated to have cost hundreds of millions of euros.
“The attitude of the Russians towards Ukrainian cultural heritage is a war crime,” he said.
At present, the Ukrainian government and its Western backers who provide weapons are mainly focused on defeating Russia on the battlefield.
But if peace returns, it will also be crucial to preserve Ukraine’s art, history and cultural collections, so survivors of the war can begin their next battle: rebuilding their lives.
“These are museums, historic buildings, churches. Everything that has been built and created by generations in Ukraine,” Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska said during a visit to the Ukrainian Museum in New York in September.
“It’s a war against our identities.”
Some 1,500 years ago, the exquisite golden headdresses set with gemstones by master craftsmen are among the world’s most valuable handicrafts, from the bloody reign of Attila the Hun in the 5th century, who rampaged deep into Europe with horse-riding warriors.
When Russian troops attacked the southern city, staff at the Melitopol Local History Museum first tried to hide the Hun crown and hundreds of other treasures.
But after weeks of back-and-forth searches, Russian soldiers finally discovered the building’s secret basement, where staff hid the museum’s most prized items, including the Huns’ crown, according to museum staff.
The worker, who asked not to be named, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he was concerned that Russia would be punished for discussing the incidents, saying Ukrainians had no idea where Russian troops had taken the items, which included headgear and about 1,700 people. other artifacts.
The crown excavated from the burial chamber in 1948 is one of only a few Hun crowns in the world.
Other treasures that disappeared with Russian soldiers include 198 pieces of 2,400-year-old gold from the Scythian era, nomads who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia and Ukraine and established empires in Crimea, museum staff said. .
“These are ancient finds. These are works of art. They are priceless treasures,” said Oleksandr Symonenko, lead researcher at the Ukrainian Institute of Archaeology.
“If the culture disappeared, it would be an irreversible disaster.”
The Russian Ministry of Culture did not respond to questions about the Melitopol collection.
Russian troops also ransacked museums as they wrecked the Black Sea port of Mariupol, a city ruthlessly bombarded by Russian bombing, according to Ukrainian officials driven out of the southern city.
Moscow didn’t take full control of it until May, when Ukrainian defenders clinging to the city’s steel mill finally surrendered.
Mariupol’s exiled city council says Russian troops have stolen more than 2,000 objects from the city’s museums.
Among the most prized items are ancient religious icons, unique handwritten Torah scrolls, a 200-year-old Bible and more than 200 medals, the committee said.
The exiled lawmakers said they also looted works by Mariupol-born painters Arkhip Kuindzhi and Crimea-born Ivan Aivazovsky, both known for their seascapes.
They said Russian troops shipped their stolen bounty to the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The invasion also caused extensive damage and destruction to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
The UN cultural agency is documenting sites hit by missiles, bombs and shelling.
As the war entered its eighth month, the agency said it had verified damage to 199 sites in 12 districts.
These include 84 churches and other places of worship, 37 buildings of historic interest, 37 buildings for cultural events, 18 monuments, 13 museums and 10 libraries, according to Unesco.
The Ukrainian government’s tally is even higher, with authorities saying at least 270 religious buildings alone have been destroyed and damaged.
While the invading forces searched for treasures to steal, Ukrainian museum staff did everything they could to keep them from falling into Russian hands.
Tens of thousands of items have been evacuated from front lines and war zones.
In Kyiv, where the curator of the Ukrainian Museum of Historical Treasures lives in the building and guards its artifacts, Russian troops tried unsuccessfully to surround the capital during the first weeks of the invasion.
“We were afraid of the Russian occupiers because they destroyed everything that could be identified as Ukrainian,” recalls director Natalia Panchenko.
Fearing Russian troops would attack the city, she tried to confuse them by removing a plaque at the museum’s entrance.
She also dismantled exhibits and carefully packed artifacts into boxes for evacuation.
She hopes that one day, they will return to their rightful place.
Currently, the museum only displays replicas.
“These things are fragile, they survive for hundreds of years,” she said.
“We can’t stand the idea that they might get lost.”
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