Russian archaeologist charged with looting Ukrainian heritage in Crimea

This is reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

The SBU, together with the National Police and the Prosecutor's Office, has gathered evidence against a Russian citizen who has been looting Ukraine's cultural heritage in the temporarily occupied Crimea. According to experts, his actions on the peninsula have caused Ukraine damages exceeding UAH 200 million.

In 2014, the archaeologist led an expedition personally visited by Putin, which has been conducting illegal excavations for more than 10 years at a Ukrainian cultural heritage site in Crimea. This includes unauthorized excavations across hundreds of square meters at the Ukrainian archaeological complex Ancient City of Myrmekion, located in the Kerch region.

Russians have removed the so-called cultural layer of the Ukrainian peninsula to a depth of nearly 2 meters. According to an expert examination, during these excavations, they damaged a Ukrainian historical site, causing damage exceeding UAH 200 million.

Based on the collected evidence, the archaeologist has been notified in absentia of suspicion under Part 4 of Article 298 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal archaeological excavations, destruction, or damage to cultural heritage sites, carried out with the purpose of finding movable artifacts originating from archaeological heritage sites).

The individual is planned to be placed on an international wanted list to bring him to criminal responsibility for crimes against the cultural heritage of Ukraine's millennia-old statehood.

• In 2024, the invading Russian authorities illegally 'nationalized' at least 1,200 properties in Crimea.