US Customs officers seize Russian parcel with three Scythian swords, return artifacts to Ukraine 

This was reported by the US Customs and Border protection service.

The three metal swords arrived from Russia and the stone axe head arrived from Ukraine. The items were identified as Ukrainian culture property by representatives from the Ukrainian government.

"US Customs and Border Protection is extremely proud to have played an important role in the seizing of these artifacts that were stolen from the people of Ukraine," said Francis Russo, Director New York Field Operations.

The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States noted that from July to September 2022, US customs officials detained about 20 cargoes from Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine. They arrived in the United States without proper documentation and contained archaeological items.

Customs officials suspected that some of the items in the cargo might be related to the history of Ukraine. So the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of Investigations and Forensics conducted a series of examinations. Their results indicated that the suspicions were reasonable.

"To confirm the results of its own examinations, the American side, through the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, appealed to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, whose representatives have now confirmed that the items are of Ukrainian origin," the Ukrainian Embassy said in a statement.

The Institute of Archeology of Ukraine confirmed that the cargo contained three akinakas of the Scythian culture of the VI-V centuries BC (the area of distribution is the forest-steppe and steppe parts of Ukraine and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea). Also, according to the Institute, a polished flint axe of the III millennium BC belongs to the culture of Globular Amphorae (the area of distribution is northwestern Ukraine).

In addition, the cargo included Polovtsian sabers from the times of the ancient Rus state of the XI-XII centuries and much more.

• On April 30, 2022, it was reported that the Russian forces were stealing Scythian gold from a museum in occupied Melitopol.