The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine's Directorate of State Security provided data on 14 Russian museum workers who are engaged in propaganda and contribute to the theft of Ukrainian cultural values in the temporarily occupied territories.
Points of attention
- Russian museum workers are implicated in the theft of Ukrainian cultural values in the temporarily occupied territories, collaborating with the occupiers to propagate propaganda and steal archaeological finds.
- The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has exposed 14 Russian museum workers, including high-profile individuals like the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, contributing to the theft of Ukrainian cultural heritage.
- Since 2022, Russian museums have been conducting systematic propaganda activities in the occupied territories to legitimize the occupation, integrate Ukrainian museums into Russian cultural space, and erode Ukrainian identity.
DIU exposed Russia's accomplices in the theft of Ukrainian cultural values
The fact of the illegal export of 164 archaeological artifacts from occupied Crimea, found during excavations of the ancient cities of "Nymphaea" and "Pantikapaea", has also been confirmed.
Since 2022, Russian museums have been conducting systematic propaganda activities in the occupied territories: organizing exhibitions, lectures, and educational programs aimed at legitimizing the occupation. Their goal is to integrate Ukrainian museums into the Russian cultural space and destroy Ukrainian identity.
Among the people involved:
Iryna Zhukova is the director of the "All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum", who in 2024 organized the exhibition "Unity through the Ages" in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region to promote the "historical connection of Donbas with Russia".
Oleksandr Shkolnik is the director of the "Museum of the Great Patriotic War", on the basis of which in 2023 training was conducted for museum workers from occupied Donetsk on the promotion of Russian history among museum visitors.
The list of "inheritance thieves" also includes the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, the "History of the Fatherland" foundation headed by him, and the Russian Historical Society, which has 7 branches in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The War&Sanctions portal has collected data on 996 stolen objects and 260 individuals involved in the robbery of Ukrainian cultural heritage, the distortion of history, and the erasure of Ukrainian identity.
The Ministry of Defense emphasizes that all those who try to rewrite history and destroy Ukrainian national identity will receive fair retribution.
