- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
RBGPF | -0.46% | 60.52 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.29% | 6.97 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.12% | 24.6 | $ | |
NGG | 0.58% | 65.86 | $ | |
BP | -3.4% | 32.05 | $ | |
RIO | -4.72% | 66.48 | $ | |
RELX | 1.32% | 46.655 | $ | |
AZN | 0.02% | 76.889 | $ | |
GSK | -1.58% | 38.03 | $ | |
BTI | 0.04% | 35.213 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.25% | 24.851 | $ | |
VOD | -0.52% | 9.64 | $ | |
SCS | -0.54% | 12.88 | $ | |
BCC | -0.01% | 141.25 | $ | |
JRI | -0.46% | 13.12 | $ | |
BCE | -0.13% | 33.485 | $ |
Ukraine museum in 'shock' after Russian looting spree
Shattered display cases and empty shelves highlight the extent of Russian looting at a history museum in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson where Olga Goncharova has worked for four decades.
Since Russian forces retreated last month after an eight-month occupation, Goncharova, its acting director, has been trying to account for the damage and theft –- a process she described as "a stab in the heart".
"When I saw this, it was a very scary shock," she told AFP during a tour of exhibition rooms that have been left in shambles.
"I realised very sharply and vividly from this example of vandalism that the great Russian culture that they talk about doesn't exist," she said, decrying how the soldiers could have been "so cruel to the museum".
The Kherson Regional Museum is one of four cultural institutions in the city that saw widespread pillaging by Russian troops, Human Rights Watch said in a statement this week.
The others are the Kherson Regional Art Museum, St Catherine's Cathedral and the Kherson Region National Archives.
"Kherson residents had already suffered months of torture and other abuses during the Russian occupation, and then watched their cultural and historical heritage get packed up and taken away," said Belkis Wille, HRW's crisis and conflict associate director.
"The people of Ukraine are entitled to have all the stolen objects returned, and to justice for their theft."
- 'Everything was broken' -
Specialising in local history, the Kherson Regional Museum housed about 180,000 objects in its collection prior to Russia's invasion in February, and Goncharova had personally worked on preserving many of them.
"I didn't know any other job. This is my second or maybe my first home. So all the exhibits that were here have passed through my hands," she said.
"All the photographs, all the documents, everything that was here, it was all very familiar to me. And when I came in, the feeling was unlike anything I've felt before. It was like a stab in the heart."
She ticked off a long list of items that are now gone -- gold, rare coins, weapons, military medals.
"Everything which was valuable, materially, they stole, kidnapped and moved to an unknown direction," she said.
Ukrainian prosecutors suspect her predecessor, Tetiana Bratchenko, of having collaborated with Moscow's forces. She is understood to have fled to Russia as Ukrainian troops were closing in on the city.
Over the summer, Russians in civilian clothes visited the museum "numerous times" and used the venue to mark Russian National Flag Day in August, HRW said in its statement, citing testimony from a security guard.
In October, a larger group of around 70 people arrived and, as Russian soldiers stood guard, drove objects away in three trucks, HRW said.
The rights group said it had "identified at least 450 objects as missing from the glass display case labels, including Scythian gold, other gold and silver, imperial Russian medals, and coins".
Other missing objects include paintings, furniture and Soviet military uniforms.
Ukrainian media has reported that pillaged items have since reappeared on display in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Goncharova said it was not just the scale of the looting that disturbed her, but the reckless manner in which it was carried out.
"It was barbaric. They used crowbars to undermine everything," she said.
"Everything was broken up and destroyed."
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN