Ukraine asked UNESCO and other Western partners to stop any cooperation with Russian museums. That’s because of stealing museum collections from occupied parts of Ukraine. Also, “because they are using this narrative of the so-called great Russian culture as a weapon..,” Ukraine’s Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko said on TV air.
“They [the Russians] start or plan to evacuate Ukrainian museum items, we record it as another step of the occupation authorities regarding objects that are part of the Ukrainian cultural heritage, the world cultural heritage. This is a fact of a war crime. We know that during the occupation of Crimea, illegal actions were committed against UNESCO objects in Bakhchysarai and Khersones, and all this, accordingly, should be reflected in reparations from the Russians. But it is also important for us to involve international organizations to prevent further illegal traffic of valuable museum collections,” the Minister of Culture said.
