The Main Directorate of Intelligence reported on the War&Sanctions portal, in the Stolen Heritage section, about 110 cultural artifacts looted by Russian occupiers during illegal archaeological excavations in occupied Crimea between 2014 and 2025.
These cultural valuables were discovered by the occupiers during unauthorized excavations near the Artezian settlement, the Genoese fortress of Chembalo, and the southern suburb of Tauric Chersonesos.
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine also released information about cultural valuables discovered at the Kadykivske settlement site (a Roman camp), where the occupation administration of Sevastopol plans to construct a shopping centre. It is also reported that the occupiers removed cultural artifacts from the Tauric Chersonesos National Preserve, allegedly for exhibition at the Museum of the History of Yekaterinburg. It should be recalled that Russia is currently carrying out illegal construction around Chersonesus, aiming to transform the ancient city into a site of “Russian history” and a symbolic point of Christianity’s supposed spread. Next to the archaeological ruins, a so-called archaeological park has been created, which obstructs access to ancient finds. Moreover, illegal construction in the southern suburb of ancient Chersonesus has led to the complete destruction of a Roman-period necropolis.
Previous cases of cultural artifact theft by Russian occupiers from Crimea had already been reported. On 20 May 2023, gold artifacts from the Byzantine period were illegally transported from the Chersonesus Taurica National Preserve to Velykyi Novgorod, allegedly for a joint federal museum exhibition titled “The Gold of Byzantium.”
According to the Crimean Institute for Strategic Studies, more than 150,000 cultural heritage items — including over 8,000 immovable assets — have been entered into Russia’s state registries in Crimea. The Russian Federation claims these objects as state property. This appropriation of heritage sites constitutes a gross violation of international law and serves as a tool of information warfare: the aggressor state uses the seized assets to advance a distorted narrative of Crimea’s “Russian history.” The problem of the illegal removal of cultural valuables has also spread to newly occupied territories of Ukraine, with Crimea now functioning as a transit hub for the export of cultural heritage.
The French civil society organization Pour l’Ukraine, pour leur liberté et la nôtre! (For Ukraine, for their and our freedom!) has launched a petition demanding that Russia be stripped of its membership in the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
The petition emphasizes that allowing institutions and individuals involved in the destruction, looting, and falsification of cultural heritage to remain within ICOM contradicts the organization’s core principles. It also notes that several national committees have already called for Russia’s expulsion.