Museum curators are hiding out in basements across Ukraine trying to protect the nation’s priceless cultural heritage from Russian invaders.
dates back millenia, with the Greeks and Romans among the worst perpetrators. Museums and private collections around the world are filled with looted art that changed hands during conflicts. During World War II, a secret allied army known as the “Monuments Men” worked to protect European treasures from being pilfered by invading armies—with mixed success.are still being discovered across Germany. Millions of stolen pieces may never be found.
Since Russia began its invasion in February, 250 cultural institutions have been targeted by Russian munitions. Thousands of important museums pieces have been destroyed during the bombing of Mariupol and elsewhere. In Melitopol, Scythian gold artifacts worth millions that date back to the 4th Century B.C. were stolen from crates the museum had hidden them in.
Art historians are extremely concerned that Russia is stealing the country’s soul by destroying these items. “We have museum buildings destroyed, with all collections turned into ashes—it's quite a barbaric situation,” curator and art historian Konstantin Akinsha, who is an expert in Ukrainian art,program. “[The] other side of the problem is that in little towns which are occupied by Russians, we have the first cases of random looting of museums.
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