The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) has published information on 14 individuals involved in the illegal seizure and removal of Ukrainian cultural property in the “Stolen Heritage” section of the War & Sanctions portal.

The individuals identified are linked to the looting of cultural assets from the National Historical and Archaeological Reserve “Stone Grave” (Kamiana Mohyla), the A. S. Havzdynskyi Novokakhovka City Art Gallery, and museums in Kherson.

Among those listed is collaborator Artem Lagoyskyi, the so-called “Minister of Culture of Kherson Oblast,” who acted as one of the organizers and direct perpetrators of the looting of Kherson’s museums during the period of temporary occupation.

In 2022, Lagoyskyi, together with Dmitry Lipov, an officer of the russian Black Sea Fleet who at the time served as the so-called “commandant” of Kherson, organized the theft of the remains of Grigory Potemkin from St. Catherine’s Cathedral.

Lagoyskyi also co-organized the propaganda exhibition “Forever Nova Kakhovka” at the headquarters of the russian state-owned company Transneft in Moscow. The exhibition featured works by Ukrainian artist A. S. Havzdynskyi that had been illegally removed from the Novokakhovka City Art Gallery.

Separately, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has published information on individuals involved in the seizure of the National Historical and Archaeological Reserve “Stone Grave,” its unlawful incorporation into the so-called “Chersonesus Taurica” museum-reserve in temporarily occupied Crimea, as well as the theft of museum artifacts under the guise of “temporary exhibitions.”

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reminds that every crime committed against the Ukrainian people, their culture, and their historical heritage will inevitably be met with just retribution.