The prosecutor’s office of the republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is investigating two unnamed researchers, one of them associated with the Hermitage, for war crimes. The prosecutors say they participated in illegal archaeological expeditions in the territory, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014. The charges could result in sentences of up to 12 years in prison. The second person of interest is a representative of “the so-called ‘Institute of Archaeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences,’” per the prosecutor. The prosecutor announced the investigation on Monday.
The suspects have allegedly been involved since 2014 in unpermitted digs in Medieval Solkhat, in the city of Old Crimea. The digs have destroyed culturally significant parts of the site, say prosecutors. One of the suspects allegedly handed over objects, including elements of the ancient water supply system, bowls, and fragments of dishes, to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, which then catalogued them as belonging to its own collection. The museum’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Hermitage suspended its expeditions in the occupied territory in June as a result of fuel shortages and continued Ukrainian attacks. Russian archaeological investigations in general are a point of contention between Russia and the larger archaeological community, as ARTnews reported at the time. Ukraine does not recognize Russia as the rightful government in Crimea and says that excavations there must be permitted by Ukraine.
In April, the Council of the European Union formally sanctioned Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the Hermitage since 1992, saying he is a “close associate” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has “supported and justified Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Many Russians oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine, whose borders include Crimea, and the head of the Hermitage’s contemporary art department resigned in protest over the war in 2022.
