Topline
Russian forces have stolen thousands of pieces of Ukrainian artwork and damaged hundreds of cultural sites since the beginning of the Kremlin’s invasion nearly 11 months ago, including ancient gold, paintings and bones, in one of the biggest mass looting events since the Nazis in World War II.
Russian forces reportedly took a 4th century B.C. gold helmet worn in the Scythian Empire.
Key Facts
In May, local officials in Mariupol said Russian forces had looted more than 2,000 pieces of art from three museums and took them to the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, after troops captured the city, including paintings by Ukrainian artist Arkhip Kuindzhi and Russian romantic painter Ivan Aivazovsky.
Three Kuindzhi paintings—“Elbrus,” “Autumn, Crimea” and a sketch of the painting “Red Sunset on the Dnieper” were removed from the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol before the building was hit by an airstrike in March, although they were later handed to Russian forces, according to Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to Mariupol’s mayor.
Ukrainian officials said Russian troops in April guarded a mysterious man in a white lab coat who they said stole a 4th century B.C. gold helmet worn in the Scythian Empire from the Melitopol Museum of Local History, in southern Ukraine, Ukrinform reported, with Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov saying, “the orcs have taken hold of our Scythian gold.”
The stolen artwork also includes an estimated 10,000 pieces of art from the Kherson Art Museum’s collection of roughly 13,500 pieces, according to an employee who said she was confronted by people who claimed to work at Russian museums who trapped her inside while they took the pieces, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The art also included paintings such as “Piquet on the Bank of the River. Sunset” by Ivan Pokhitonov, which reportedly later appeared at a museum in Crimea, the New York Times reported.
Other pieces, including ancient Greek artifacts and documents, as well as 90% of a collection of weapons were also reportedly seized from the Kherson Regional Museum by a group of men who loaded them onto trucks, museum manager Olena Yeremenko told the Journal, accusing the retreating forces of planning to “destroy our history.”
Russian troops also took the bones of Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin, the lover of former Russian Empress Catherine the Great, who founded the city in 1778, from a vault in Kherson under specific orders from the Kremlin, the Times reported in April.
Paintings were also taken from the Oleksii Shovkunenko Art Museum in Kherson, including “Autumn Time” by Georgy Kurnakov, the Moscow Times reported.
A statue of 18th century Russian General Alexander Suvorov was also taken from the city, PBS NewsHour reported.
“Red Sunset on the Dnieper” by Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi
“On the River Bank” by Ivan Pokhitonov, one of the paintings taken from the Oleksii Shovkunenko Art … [+]
“Houses at Sunset” by Pyotr Sokolov
“Autumn Time,” by Georgy Kurnakov
A statue in Kherson damaged during the fighting.
The bones of Prince Grigory Potemkin (pitcured above), lover of Russian Empress Catherine the Great, … [+]
Big Number
235. That’s how many cultural sites have been damaged since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine last February, including 18 museums, 19 monuments, 11 libraries and 104 religious sites, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Key Background
Many art historians are comparing the stolen Ukrainian art to the Nazis’ looting of (often Jewish-owned) European artwork in World War II. In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in four Russian-occupied cities in eastern and southern Ukraine, allowing Russian forces to legally loot artwork for their own “preservation,” The Art Newspaper reported. Some of the pieces taken from Crimea were transported to the Crimean city of Simferopol for “protection,” Kherson Art Museum director Andrei Malguin told Spanish outlet El Pais. But according to the New York Times, the “thefts are [considered] a broadside attack on Ukrainian pride, culture and identity” in keeping with Putin, who does not consider Ukraine a separate country from Russia.
Further Reading
As Rusians Steal Ukraine’s Art, They Attack Its Identity, Too (New York Times)
Theft Of Banksy Mural In Ukraine Foiled By Police (Forbes)
Russians Systematically Loot Art, Ancient Relics From Ukraine’s Cultural Sites (Wall Street Journal)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/01/14/these-are-some-of-the-most-famous-ukrainian-works-of-art-looted-by-russia/