UNESCO seeks to prevent trafficking of looted Ukrainian art

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kiev, photographed in April 2015. The holdings of such institutions have been rendered vulnerable to looting due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural organization, opened a three-day workshop in Poland on Jan. 18 to train law enforcement officials to prevent the trafficking and looting of Ukrainian art and artifacts. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Sergey UA Kiev. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
This ancient vessel, photographed on display at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kiev in January 2005, is the sort of artifact that looters and traffickers might target while the Russian invasion of the country wreaks havoc. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Alexostrov. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license.
This ancient vessel, photographed on display at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kiev in January 2005, is the sort of artifact that looters and traffickers might target for destruction or theft while the Russian invasion of the country wreaks havoc. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Alexostrov. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – The United Nations cultural organization is training law enforcement and judiciary officials from countries on Ukraine’s western borders, seeking to prevent the trafficking of looted cultural objects from Ukraine amid Russia’s war against its neighbor.

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Hermitage Amsterdam cuts ties with Russian partner over Ukraine invasion

Exterior of the Hermitage Amsterdam museum, taken in July 2009. The Dutch museum has cut ties with its Russian sister, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Txllxt TxllxT. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
Exterior of the Hermitage Amsterdam museum, taken in July 2009. The Dutch museum has cut ties with its Russian sister, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Txllxt TxllxT. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
Exterior of the Hermitage Amsterdam museum, taken in July 2009. The Dutch museum announced it has cut ties with its Russian sister, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as a direct result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Txllxt TxllxT. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) – An Amsterdam museum said March 3 it has cut its close links to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and UNESCO warned of damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage, as international cultural institutions stepped up their condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Hermitage Amsterdam said it has long distanced itself from politics in Russia under President Vladimir Putin as it built close ties with the Hermitage, giving the Amsterdam museum “access to one of the world’s most famous art collections, which we could draw from” for exhibitions.

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