An employee of a museum institution of the Russian Federation has been notified of suspicion over illegal excavations of the "Ancient City of Panticapaeum." As reported by the Prosecutor's Office of Crimea, the suspect is conducting illegal excavations on the territory of a cultural heritage site without any permits from the competent Ukrainian authorities, UNN reports.
The head of the Department of Archaeology of the Ancient World at the "Alexander Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts" has been notified of suspicion. His actions have been classified under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (commission of a war crime by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy). The article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years
Details
According to the investigation, the suspect has been conducting illegal excavations on the territory of a cultural heritage site since 2014 and to this day, without any permits from the competent Ukrainian authorities.
This concerns the archaeological complex "Ancient City of Panticapaeum" — an architectural monument of national significance protected by law, located in the area of Mount Mithridates in the city of Kerch.
During archaeological work on the territory of the ancient settlement, the suspect found fragments of painted bowls and amphorae, ancient slabs, casting molds, a terracotta statuette, and other cultural valuables that are the exclusive property of the state of Ukraine.
Later, he handed these finds over to the so-called "East Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve." The head of this occupation institution, who had previously been notified of suspicion of committing a war crime, subsequently facilitated the inclusion of the recovered items in the Museum Fund of the occupying country and also arranged for them to be transferred for display at exhibitions in the Russian Federation.
In this way, in violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, the suspect facilitated the illegal appropriation of Ukraine's cultural heritage and also caused the destruction of an archaeological monument from the ancient period, as a result of which its historical and scientific value has been irretrievably lost.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. It is being conducted by the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.