Occupiers admitted stealing more than 12,000 paintings during occupation of Kherson

During the occupation of Kherson, the Russians took more than 12,000 paintings to the temporarily occupied Crimea.

This was stated by the “Minister of Culture” of the occupied part of Kherson region Artem Lahoiskyi on the programme “On the phone with the Minister” on the pro-Russian radio Tavria, ZMINA reports.

Lahoiskyi said the exhibits were taken away in October 2022. Some of them were taken from the Kherson Local History Museum to the Sevastopol Defence Museum, and some to Chersonesus.

The occupiers took 12,000 paintings from the Kherson Art Museum to the Tavrida Museum in Simferopol.

According to the “minister”, the exhibits were taken out of Kherson so that they “would not be desecrated by military and nationalists”.

Stolen paintings from Kherson were exhibited by the occupiers in Crimea. Source: Radio Tavria

In August of this year, the Kherson Art Museum found that one of the paintings stolen during the occupation of the city was in the possession of the Russians. This work was featured in a story on a Russian TV channel. 

Earlier, ZMINA reported that in early November 2022, the occupiers looted the Kherson Art Museum under the pretext of “evacuation”. They were assisted by some museum staff who agreed to cooperate with the Russians. 

The so-called “evacuation” was led by the pseudo-director Natalia Desiatova, whom Kherson residents may know as a singer from the Teatralne cafe. She was assisted by some museum staff who agreed to cooperate with Russians.