The Russian occupiers have resorted to a new scheme to export museum exhibits and artifacts from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. One such example occurred in the Donetsk region. Here, Russian National Guard militants handed over to the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore stone figures allegedly found during “work” belonging to the Polovtsian culture of the XI-XII centuries. The museum’s “experts” have already evaluated the found tombstones and promise to decide their fate soon.
It is known that since the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore fell into the hands of Russian collaborators, it has become a kind of gasket through which stolen cultural property belonging to Ukraine is “legalized” and entered into the Russian register. Subsequently, such exhibits end up in storage and museum halls in Russia.
At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of the first victims of Russian shelling was the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore. The museum building was completely destroyed after a shell hit, causing a large-scale fire. However, the main reason for the loss of a significant part of the historical property was not so much the consequences of the fire as the systematic destruction of exhibits by looters and the Russian military.
From the first days of the occupation, the Russians began to take the most valuable artifacts from the museum to occupied Donetsk. Among the stolen items were unique objects of historical and cultural significance that symbolized the heritage of Mariupol and the entire region. Part of the collection, including paintings by the famous artist Arkhip Kuindzhi, was handed over to the occupiers by the museum’s then-director, Natalia Kapusnikova. After that, she fled Mariupol to Russia, effectively betraying her city and Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
Kapusnykova’s place was taken by another collaborator, Raisa Bozhko, who became the new “head” of the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore under the occupation authorities. Under her leadership, the destruction and theft of the museum’s cultural heritage continues, with irreparable consequences for Ukrainian historical heritage.
The loss of the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore has become another symbol of Russia’s aggressive policy aimed at erasing the cultural identity of the occupied territories and appropriating other people’s historical treasures. These crimes can only be stopped after the complete de-occupation of Ukrainian lands and the prosecution of the perpetrators. Help the Ukrainian Defense Forces bring this time closer by sharing this information and donating.