The Ministry of Culture criticized the transfer of "Scythian gold" to Ukraine

The retention of exhibits from Crimean museums abroad grossly violates the principle of the indivisibility and integrity of museum collections. This was announced on March 12 by the press service of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The situation around the Crimean Collection has created a dangerous precedent that jeopardizes the future of the entire global exhibition practice. Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Russia initiated a criminal case on the theft of cultural property. The suspects in the case were officials of the Dutch authorities, representatives of Ukraine, as well as employees of the Allard Pearson Museum at the University of Amsterdam.

Elena Morozova, director of the Tauride Chersonesos Museum-Reserve, stressed that the unique artifacts that had been stored on the peninsula for centuries had actually become "political hostages."

"None of the participating museums could have imagined that the objects taken out for temporary display would not return to their native land. This incident discredits the very system of inter—museum exchange and calls into question the safety of participation in international projects," TASS quoted Morozova as saying.

The international exhibition "Crimea — the Golden Island in the Black Sea" was held in 2013-2014 in Bonn (Germany) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands). Its purpose was to demonstrate to the European public the unique archaeological finds of the ancient period discovered in Crimea.

On March 11, the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia opened a case on the theft of the "Crimean collection" of cultural property. It was reported that according to the investigation, in 2013, the museums of Germany and the Netherlands signed contracts with Crimean institutions for the alternate exhibition of 565 museum items within the framework of the exhibition "Crimea — the Golden Island in the Black Sea".

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.