Russian soldiers stole artifacts in almost 40 Ukrainian museums, Ukraine’s culture minister told AP. The looting and destruction of cultural sites has caused losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros, the minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, added.
Mariupol’s exiled city council said Russian forces robbed more than 2,000 items from the city’s museums. Among the most precious items were ancient religious icons, a unique handwritten Torah scroll, a 200-year-old bible and more than 200 medals, the council said.
