Russian museum workers were involved in the theft of cultural artifacts from Crimea, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported. The agency published data on 14 Russian museum employees and exhibition organizers implicated in propaganda activities and the pilfering of Ukrainian cultural values in Crimea, reported UNN.

Among those identified are Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation, and Alexander Shkolnik, director of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. According to Espreso, Naryshkin also heads the History of the Fatherland Foundation and the Russian Historical Society, which are involved in activities related to the appropriation of Ukrainian culture.

According to the reports, the employees took at least 164 archaeological artifacts from Crimea. These items were confirmed during excavations of the ancient cities of Nymphaeum and Pantikapaion. According to online.ua, a total of 996 stolen objects were documented, and 260 individuals are known to be involved in the robbery.

According to Espreso, in 2023, training sessions were held at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War for museum workers from occupied Donetsk, focusing on promoting Russian history among museum visitors. Similarly, Irina Zhukova, director of the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum, organized the exhibition "Unity Through the Ages" in 2024 in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region to promote the "historical connection between Donbas and Russia."

Earlier Ukrainian reports indicated that more than 150 exhibits stolen by the Russian Federation from the Kherson Regional Art Museum were identified. Last spring, the Kherson Art Museum recognized 103 paintings taken by Russian forces in 2022, noted Espreso. According to UNN, the United States also contributed to preserving Ukraine's cultural heritage by returning archaeological monuments of various historical periods that were detained at customs.

The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.