The Ukrainian embassy in the USA showed ancient artifacts that the Russians stole from the occupied territories.
Three swords believed to date from the fifth or sixth century BC era, were confiscated by US Customs and Border Protection last year and handed over to the Ukrainian government during a repatriation ceremony at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington on March 10, the Embassy reports.
The weapons presented at the embassy are stolen artifacts sent from Russia and seized by US Customs and Border Protection officers at JFK International Airport. Specialists of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine dated the swords to the fifth or sixth century BC, and the polished flint ax tip to the third century BC.
Facebook/Embassy of Ukraine in the USA
As representatives of the customs and border service reported, the name of the importer is known, she planned to send such items on a regular basis.
According to Ukrainian diplomats, the artifacts collected at the Ukrainian embassy on Friday are only the first of those identified from more than 20 parcels as coming from a single sender from the Krasnodar region of Russia, which borders the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. All of them were intercepted by customs between July and September of last year, and work is currently underway to find out whether they come from Ukraine.
Read also: Not only washing machines: Russians stole valuable artifacts from almost 40 museums in Ukraine
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As you know, after the invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops looted museums, art galleries and cathedrals in the occupied territories. Some experts have called it the biggest heist since the Nazis ransacked Europe during World War II. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 10,000 works of art were stolen from the Kherson Regional Art Museum during the occupation.
