"Looting Crimean museums": "evacuating" collections to Russian Federation will be a war crime

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports.

The corresponding plan of "external evacuation" from the museums of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to the territory of Russian Federation provides for the priority removal of the most valuable objects, in particular, archaeological finds made of precious metals.

"Such a mass removal of cultural values ​​from the territory of Ukraine by Russian occupying forces will be comparable to the looting of museums during the Second World War and should be qualified accordingly. The actions of Russian Federation are a violation of international law and will result in both the responsibility of the aggressor state and the criminal responsibility of those involved in the national and international levels" - the message says.

ICRC appealed to UNESCO and all international partners to:

to prevent another violation of international law by the aggressor state;

refuse to cooperate with Russian museums and other institutions;

take measures to counter the illegal traffic of cultural values ​​and legalization of values ​​illegally appropriated by the aggressor state, in particular, under the pretext of exhibitions from the funds of Russian museums or from excavations in the territories occupied by Russia, carried out after 2013.

"After all, Russian cultural projects can be aimed not only at capturing the cultural space ("cultural special operation", according to the director of the Hermitage, M. Piotrovsky), but also at legalizing the criminal decisions of the current Russian political regime" - the message added.