DIU has identified more than 170 cultural properties stolen by Russians from Ukraine
The Main Directorate of Intelligence (DIU) released information in the “Stolen Heritage” section of the War&Sanctions website identifying 178 cultural properties appropriated by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories, including those from the Kamyana Mohyla museum.
A screenshot from the War&Sanctions websiteIntelligence officials reported that over 140 artifacts were stolen during illegal archaeological excavations in temporarily occupied Crimea from sites such as the Southern Suburb of Chersonesos Taurica, the Kadykivske settlement (a Roman camp), and the Byzantine architectural monument known as the “Church of John the Baptist.”
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Additionally, 37 exhibits were moved from the Kamyana Mohyla National Historical and Archaeological Museum to the “Chersonesos Taurica” Museum under the guise of a “temporary exhibition” in 2023.
By way of background, in July 2025, the DIU identified another 110 cultural properties removed from Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Earlier, a French non-governmental organization, “Pour l’Ukraine, pour leur liberté et la nôtre!”">і (For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!), released a petition demanding that Russia be stripped of its membership in the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
The document emphasizes that the membership of institutions and individuals who destroy, plunder, and falsify cultural heritage violates ICOM’s principles. The French organization noted that many national committees have already called for Russia’s exclusion from ICOM, so far without result.
