Russians open exhibition of stolen artefacts from ancient landmark in Zaporizhzhia
The Russians in temporarily occupied Crimea have opened an exhibition of finds from Kamiana Mohyla (Stone Tomb) in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. These objects belong to the Museum Fund of Ukraine and had been stored in the historical archaeological reserve of the same name in the occupied city of Melitopol. They were stolen after Melitopol was occupied by the Russians.
The House of Fish, a capsule exhibition on the sacred mountain of Kamiana Mohyla, has opened at the Tauric Chersonesos Museum-Reserve in Crimea, the Union of Archaeologists of Ukraine has reported on Facebook.
Reports in the Russian media confirm that the exhibition opened at the end of September until 8 October. The exhibition of stolen finds from Zaporizhzhia Oblast is reportedly located in the small hall of a Byzantine exhibition.
Anastasiia Cherednichenko, President of the Ukrainian branch of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), a professional network of institutions and museum specialists whose aim is to preserve and protect cultural treasures, told UP.Kultura that by transporting the valuables to Crimea, the Russians are trying to protect themselves from international lawsuits that Ukraine may bring against Russia and from "museum sanctions" that may be implemented or lobbied for by ICOM.
"There is evidence that they are trying to protect themselves by doing this, because they are apparently transporting stolen valuables not directly to the territory of Russia, but to the so-called buffer zone. Nobody can say that it is Russian territory. Ukraine cannot say this," Cherednichenko remarked.
"They [the Russians – ed.] also say this is an evacuation, but that is not true either and can be easily disproved. Because this is still a violation of the laws and customs of war, and anyway, the procedure for such an evacuation is not being correctly followed. So it cannot be said that this is an evacuation to preserve [the finds]," she added.
Cherednichenko explained that in order to be able to take back all the cultural treasures in the future, Ukraine must monitor and document the objects that Russia has stolen. She added that the Prosecutor General’s Office is currently working on documenting the crimes Russia has committed against Ukraine’s cultural heritage during the war.
She remarked that ICOM Ukraine is helping the Prosecutor General’s Office in this work, yet the government must also take action: "We have not confirmed the UNIDROIT convention on cultural objects [the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects – ed.]. I realise that the legal basis does not apply in the case of the Russian Federation, but since we will be working with our allies after Ukraine’s victory, we must have a legal basis [for bringing back illegally removed cultural property]."
In January 2023, it was reported that Olena Morozova, the Russian-appointed "director" of the Tauric Chersonesos Museum-Reserve, had announced that a delegation had gone from Crimea to the occupied territory of Ukraine to examine the artefacts of the Kamiana Mohyla reserve.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Center reported in May that the Russian occupiers had moved exhibits from Kamiana Mohyla to Crimea.
In May, the Russians opened the first exhibition of artefacts from Kamiana Mohyla in Crimea, featuring 120 stolen archaeological finds. These included petroglyphs, ancient household items, ceramics and Stone Age tools.
Kateryna Chuieva, then-Deputy Minister of Culture, revealed that the ministry lost contact with the staff of the Kamiana Mohyla Museum when the territory was occupied last year.
"We lost contact with the staff and the management of Kamiana Mohyla last year. They tried to get in touch, but instead it emerged that some members of staff had participated in some events with the occupying authorities, and it became clear that the reserve was no longer under Ukraine’s control," she explained to Hromadske Radio.
According to local media outlet RIA Melitopol, Yaroslav Mykhailov, director of the reserve, has been collaborating with the occupiers since the early days of the occupation.
What is Kamiana Mohyla?
Kamiana Mohyla (Stone Tomb) is an ancient cultural landmark located near the city of Melitopol (in the settlement of Myrne), Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on the Molochna River.
It is a hill of natural origin which served as an altar for pagan rituals. Several thousand unique ancient rock carvings – petroglyphs – have been found there. The chronology of these carvings spans a period from the late Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages (circa 24,000-22,000 BC – 10th-13th century).
Archaeologist Mykola Veslovskyi, famous for his Scythian burial excavations, was the first to explore Kamiana Mohyla in the late 19th century. In his Report for the Archaeological Commission from 1890, Veslovskyi described the cave entrances, open grottos and carvings on the cave’s slabs.
The research resulted in the opening of 65 grottos and caves with rare images on the ceilings. They give us insight into what the agriculture and spiritual culture of Southern Ukraine’s earliest inhabitants were like.
Kamiana Mohyla has been nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2006. In 2008 it received the status of a national historical and archaeological reserve.
Kamiana Mohyla was occupied by the Russians in February 2022, and in November 2022 the Russians announced that the reserve was now subordinate to the Tauric Chersonesos Museum-Reserve in Crimea.
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