Russians prepare to transport museum valuables from occupied Crimea

The department of the occupation administration of Crimea, responsible for historical artefacts and cultural sites on the peninsula, has ordered its subordinate institutions to prepare museum property for "evacuation". 

Source: Ukraine’s National Resistance Center

Details: This is evidenced by a letter from the so-called ministry of culture of temporarily occupied Crimea to the heads of museum institutions.

The Russians did not indicate the reasons and places for the alleged transportation of valuables.

The National Resistance Center stressed that there had been a risk that the most valuable items would be transported from Crimea to Russia's internationally recognised territory.

In particular, the document, which was handed over to the National Resistance Center, directly refers to the need to clarify the list of "places of evacuation of valuables" in the event of disasters or combat actions.

It is important to note that, according to Russian law, the list of such places should have been approved long ago, but the information is being requested to be clarified in a new "letter from the Russian Ministry of Culture."

Museum administrations have been given until 1 July this year to respond.

Another point in the letter states that at least some of the cultural and historical monuments will be taken outside the peninsula.

The letter was not published by the National Resistance Center, even though they have it, due to "sensitive information."

The Russians are trying to speed up the process of typological classification and evaluation of museum artefacts in Crimea. Museum workers are creating electronic registers of artworks and historical monuments and transferring information to the Russian electronic museum fund. 

The letter was signed by Andrei Rostenko, the so-called deputy minister of culture of Crimea. He is the former head of the occupation administration of the city of Yalta in Crimea.

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