The names of 14 individuals allegedly involved in the removal to Russia of Ukrainian Cultural Heritage have been made public. In early February 2026, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) launched a "Stolen Heritage" register on the War & Sanctions portal to identify those responsible for what has been called the largest museum theft in Europe since World War II. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has identified those who removed exhibits from museums in Kherson, Nova Kakhovka, and the “Kamiana Mohyla” reserve, transported them to Russia, and used them in propaganda exhibitions.
- Artem Lahoyskyi: The Russian-appointed "Minister of Culture" of the Kherson region. He is identified as a primary organizer who personally participated in the removal of items from Kherson museums and the exhumation of Prince Grigory Potemkin's remains from St. Catherine's Cathedral.
- Dmytrii Lipovyi: A Russian Black Sea Fleet officer and former "commandant" of Kherson. He reportedly coordinated the transportation of stolen artefacts and personally sealed the trucks used for their removal.
- Volodymyr Bodelan: The "permanent representative" of the Kherson region to the Russian government, accused of organizing propaganda exhibitions in Moscow using stolen Ukrainian art.
- Nataliia Desiatova: The Russian-appointed director of the Kherson Art Museum during the occupation. She has already been sentenced in absentia by Ukrainian courts to 10 years in prison.
The scale of the damage done to Ukrainian cultural heritage and destination of the looted items can be indicated by just a few examples
Kherson Museums: Over 28,000 artefacts were taken from the Regional History Museum alone, while the Kherson Regional Art Museum lost more than 10,000 exhibits, including works by Aivazovsky and Shovkunenko.
Kamiana Mohyla: Approximately 37 unique petroglyphs and artefacts from this fragile archaeological reserve in Zaporizhzhia were moved to the "Tauric Chersonese" museum in occupied Crimea under the guise of a "temporary exhibition".
Nova Kakhovka: More than 16,000 pieces, including ancient Greek amphoras and Scythian gold, were looted from the city's history museum and art gallery.
Propaganda Use: Many stolen items, specifically paintings by Albin Havdzynskyi, were displayed at the Transneft headquarters in Moscow for an exhibition titled "Always Nova Kakhovka" to legitimize the illegal Russian occupation.
Ukraine has launched a State Registry for Stolen Cultural Valuables to help international customs and law enforcement prevent the resale of these items on the global market.
The international conservation bodies, meanwhile are proving to be as useless as they generally tend to be when firm action is needed. A French non-governmental organization, “Pour l’Ukraine, pour leur liberté et la nôtre!”" [For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!] has issued a petition demanding that Russia be stripped of its membership in the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The document emphasizes that the membership of institutions and individuals who destroy, plunder, and falsify cultural heritage violates ICOM’s principles. The French organization noted that many national committees have already called for Russia’s exclusion from ICOM, so far without result.
- Of course, publishing names does not replace legal accountability. Much work still lies ahead.