In the fall of 2022, Russian troops looted two museums in Kherson — the Art and Historical-Cultural Museum. Retreating during the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Russian army seized more than 33,000 pieces of art and historical artifacts, including Scythian, Gothic, and Sarmatian gold. Among the stolen items were the remains of Prince Grigory Potemkin, one of the founders of Kherson. This robbery became the largest in Europe since World War II.
The Ukrainian publication Kyiv Independent discovered the names of those involved in the removal of cultural valuables from Kherson's museums. Among them are high-ranking representatives of the Russian army and museum affairs.
The author of the investigation, journalist Yevgenia Motorevskaya, posed as an employee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation or a producer of a Russian TV channel to communicate with Kherson residents who collaborated with the Russian administration and helped remove cultural valuables. During these conversations, she managed to establish that the selection of art pieces was conducted by the leadership of Crimean museums, and Russian military ensured the security of the collections, participated in their packaging, and accompanied the trucks on which the artifacts were transported to Crimea.
According to the publication, those involved in the removal of the collections included the head of the communications center of the Black Sea Fleet, Dmitry Lipov, who was the "commandant" of Kherson during the occupation. Also involved were the head of the museum department of the Ministry of Culture of annexed Crimea, Sergey Patrushev, the director of the "Kherson Tavrichesky" museum in Crimea, Elena Morozova, and the director of the Museum of Defense of Sevastopol, Mikhail Smorodkin.