Almost 2,000 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed as a result of Russia’s actions; 11 occupiers have been served with notices of suspicion

In Ukraine, damage to or destruction of 1,990 cultural heritage sites has been recorded as a result of unlawful actions by representatives of the armed forces of the Russian Federation; law enforcement officers notified 11 representatives of the armed forces of the Russian Federation of suspicion, UNN reports, citing the Office of the Prosecutor General.

In connection with the destruction and damage of cultural property, prosecutors, together with law enforcement officers, notified 11 representatives of the armed forces of the Russian Federation of suspicion under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine 

The Office of the Prosecutor General reported that crimes against cultural heritage in temporarily occupied territories are being documented separately, where Russia is not only damaging monuments but also removing and appropriating cultural property.

One such case was established in occupied Crimea.

After seizing the peninsula, Russian archaeologists conducted illegal excavations at the site of the national-importance monument "The Medieval Settlement of Solkhat" in Staryi Krym. The work was carried out without Ukraine’s permits. As a result of the excavations, the cultural layer of the 13th–14th-century monument was partially destroyed 

During this work, archaeological artifacts were removed—elements of an ancient water supply system, glazed bowls, and fragments of ceramic vessels.

The Office of the Prosecutor General added that one of the expedition participants transferred some of the discovered items to the State Hermitage Museum. Subsequently, Russia included them in the State Catalogue of its own museum holdings.

Thus, a Ukrainian monument in the occupied territory was destroyed, while the artifacts removed from it were effectively registered by the aggressor state as part of its own museum heritage.

According to the investigation, a research fellow at the State Hermitage Museum and a representative of the so-called "Institute of Archaeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences" were involved in this.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol notified them of suspicion of committing war crimes by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).