That was to be expected.
Nine months after the start of hostilities in Ukraine, illicit trafficking in Ukrainian goods is beginning to open.
Resulting from organized looting in the chaos of war, this traffic concerns ancient manuscripts, religious icons, but also jewelry and paintings.
"The phenomenon has existed for a long time in the region and was amplified by the Russian invasion"
explains the International Council of Museums (ICOM), an international network of museum professionals covering nearly 140 countries
"recent reports on the massive looting of the Museum of art Oleksiy Shovkunenko of Kherson by Russian troops who withdrew from the city last November 11, show that this threat is present and systematically carried out”
.
In October, the Ukrainian Minister of Culture told The Associate Press that Russian soldiers had looted nearly 40 Ukrainian museums since the start of the invasion.
Or losses
“estimated at hundreds of millions of euros”
.
A Hun diadem, a gold tiara encrusted with precious stones dating back 1,500 years, was notably stolen from Melitopol.
A video, filmed in April in southern Belarus, showed soldiers sending parcels of stolen objects, including televisions and toys, but also, no doubt, cultural property.
In order to help limit concealment of this looting, ICOM has just published an
“Emergency Red List of cultural property at risk in Ukraine”
.
Drawn up with the help of several Ukrainian museums, including that of the History of Religion, in Lviv, or the National Academy of Sciences, the list presents not stolen goods, but major types of Ukrainian works.
Manuscripts, religious icons, numismatics, vestiges, religious art but also modern paintings, from naive movements, avant-garde and socialist realism are described, illustrative photos in support.
With this little booklet, ICOM hopes to provide a reference, in particular to customs officers or Interpol, and to alert potential buyers.
“Items will start circulating in the weeks, months and years to come
,” says the council, which has already published nineteen similar lists for countries including Colombia, Syria, West Africa, Libya or Egypt.
According to calculations by UNESCO, the UN culture agency, 207 Ukrainian cultural sites have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the Russian invasion last February.
Most are religious sites (88) or historic buildings, but fifteen museums are already ashore.
