Kherson Art Museum was looted by Russian invaders, the Museum reported on its Facebook page. Russians called it “evacuation”.
From October 31 to November 3, the occupying authorities brought three to four dozen people to the museum, who took out works of art and office equipment.
“There is no question of a delicate attitude towards ancient rarities – the paintings were not packed in a special way for transportation, but wrapped in some kind of rag,” the Museum added.
On November 1, three trucks and a school bus were loaded, accompanied by people in civilian clothes armed with machine guns. On November 2 – there were two more trucks, and on November 3, the remains were taken away by bus without armed guards.
‘When one of the best collections of Ukraine was stolen, there were roadblocks around the museum.
We hope to find out in the near future what exactly was illegally exported in four days, but there is no doubt that the most valuable (XVII-XIX centuries) was taken first. The cargo was directed to Crimea, but it is not a fact that it is the last destination.
The so-called ‘evacuation’ was led by pseudo-director Natalya Desyatova, whom Kherson residents may know as a singer from the Teatralne cafe (this is about her level of expertise). Unfortunately, she was helped by some museum employees who agreed to work for the Russians. According to the current director of the museum, Alina Dotsenko, the collection of the Kherson Art Museum is also ‘accepted’ in Crimea by its former subordinates, Natalya Koltsova and Inna Burenko, who ‘evacuated’ ahead of time,” the Museum’s message reads.
