Russian forces continue to destroy the Kherson Regional Museum of Local History after looting it during their retreat in October 2022. A third of the building is now destroyed, the museum reported on Facebook on 17 October 2025.
"For three weeks, the Russians have been conducting targeted fire at the museum," museum staff wrote. "A unique center of the history and memory of southern Ukraine has suffered numerous damages – a third of the building is completely destroyed, the roof is pierced, and walls are damaged."
The museum pointed to the irony of Russia's actions: "What Russia only yesterday brazenly called 'its cultural heritage,' today it is mercilessly wiping off the face of the earth. Purposefully, systematically, methodically."
The institution appealed to the international community to do everything possible to prevent the destruction of historical sites in Kherson.
When Russian forces fled Kherson in October 2022, they looted the region's two largest museums: the Regional Museum of Local History and the Regional Art Museum. Russian forces stole at least 20,000 exhibits from both institutions.
From the local history museum, Russian forces removed items in demand on the archaeology black market and among private collectors: rare archaeological finds from ancient times, weapons, and coins. The loot also included Sarmatian jewelry, medals and orders from Soviet times and the Russian Empire, antique furniture from the 18th-19th centuries, icons, and paintings.
Russians transported part of the stolen collection from the Kherson Regional Museum of Local History to occupied Henichesk in Kherson Oblast. Before the occupation, the museum held over 180,000 exhibits.
Among the most valuable stolen items were: the "golden room" containing Scythian gold and silver, a lapidarium with samples of ancient writing, and a weapons collection started by the museum's founder, archaeologist Viktor Hashkevych.
In late October 2022, prosecutors charged the museum's then-director Tetiana Bratchenko with treason. The Office of the Prosecutor General reported that the ex-director was suspected of voluntarily organizing and conducting political events, public activity in Russian media, and voluntary cooperation with the local occupation "administration."
In May 2025, the High Anti-Corruption Court satisfied the Ministry of Justice's lawsuit to apply sanctions against Bratchenko. According to Kherson residents, she handed over valuables to the Russian occupation forces. Museum employees, however, disagree with the accusations and sanctions, noting that before leaving for Russian territory, Bratchenko ordered the most valuable items removed from museum displays and placed in storage.
