In Ukraine, the largest illegal collection of antiquities was found — in the former MP and Prime Minister of Crimea Valeriy Horbatyʼs house during the investigation into the financing of the "DPR" and the withdrawal of money from Ukraine to Russia.
This was reported on Friday, June 24, by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova personally.
Thus, in one of Horbatyʼs offices in Kyiv, a large number of museum exhibits were seized — in particular, Scythian Akinaki swords, knives, 12th-century chain mail, Hellenistic helmets, and Trypillia culture utensils.
In addition, during the search, the ancient book Sarcophaga of Gaul was confiscated, which was an exhibit of the Russian Archaeological Museum of Constantinople, and then part of the library of the Chersonese Museum. Also confiscated a collection of more than 2.5 thousand coins, which belong geographically to the Southern Black Sea Coast (Crimea) of the Scythian and Bosporus Kingdoms, the city-state of Olbia. In total, the collection contains more than 6,000 exhibits and costs several million dollars. Part of the collection was probably stolen from the museums of the occupied Crimea.
The Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko stated during the briefing that this is the largest illegal collection confiscated during the times of independent Ukraine. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova clarified that all these items were lying in the electrical panel in the attic, and some of them were destroyed by time due to improper storage.
Experts from the National Museum of History of Ukraine said that more than two thousand items of historical artifacts seized belong to the period from the Bronze Age to the late Middle Ages. Valuable finds have now been deposited with the National Museum of Ukrainian History.
And what is the case against Horbaty?
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine is investigating the illegal activities of Valeriy Horbaty and several other people. The activities are related to the financing of the “DPR”, the withdrawal of money from Ukraine to Russia, as well as doing business in occupied Crimea (cafes and nightclubs).