On the third anniversary of the liberation of Kherson from Russian occupation, the War&Sanctions portal of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine publishes information about more than a thousand cultural values stolen by the occupying forces from the O. Shovkunenko Kherson Regional Art Gallery. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate, writes UNN.
During the temporary occupation of the city, servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, under the guidance of Russian museum workers, systematically removed exhibits from the art museum, including painting, graphics, sculpture, and icon painting. Some of them were illegally transported to the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea.
The War&Sanctions portal published data on 1233 stolen paintings, which is only a part of the total list of cultural values illegally removed from the museum by the occupiers.
Among them are works by Ukrainian and European artists of the XIX–XX centuries, such as Peter Lely, Maria Prymachenko, Mykola Pymonenko, Ivan Aivazovsky, Serhiy Vasylkivsky, and others.
By stealing and appropriating Ukrainian cultural heritage, Russia is trying to eradicate Ukrainian national identity, justify aggression and occupation. Documenting these crimes is an important step towards restoring justice and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Addition
Earlier, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published information on the War&Sanctions portal regarding 178 valuables that were removed by the occupiers from the "Kamyana Mohyla" museum in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region.