The USA returned to Ukraine the Scythian swords and the Polovtsian saber, which were taken away by the occupiers

The USA returned to Ukraine the Scythian swords and the Polovtsian saber, which were taken away by the occupiers



The United States has officially returned to Ukraine the items of historical and cultural heritage that the Russians stole from the temporarily occupied territories and tried to smuggle into the United States. In particular, the occupiers tried to take away a Bronze Age ax tip, Scythian swords and a Polovtsian saber, according to the American Customs and Border Protection Service and the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA. On March 10, the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA held an official ceremony of handing over items of Ukrainian historical heritage to the Ukrainian side. “On September 2, 2022, US Customs and Border Protection officers seized a stone ax ax and three metal swords at the international post office of JFK International Airport,” the customs officials said in a statement. Photo: Embassy of Ukraine in the USA The swords came from Russia, and the stone ax came from Ukraine. The items were identified as Ukrainian cultural values. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection is extremely proud to have played an important role in the recovery of these artifacts that were stolen from the people of Ukraine,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Director of Operations Francis Russo. During the return ceremony, Ambassador Oksana Markarova reminded that the Russian occupiers purposefully steal and take away historical and cultural artifacts from Ukraine, trying to deprive Ukraine of its identity. What happened? On March 10, the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States held an official ceremony of handing over historical artifacts. From July to September 2022, law enforcement officers from the investigative division of the US Department of Homeland Security in New York and Newark (New Jersey) detained several shipments of archaeological items. The cargo arrived in the USA from the territory of the Russian Federation without proper documentary support. In total, about 20 shipments of archaeological objects were detained in the USA, which were sent from the Russian Federation (Krasnodar Territory) and temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories. The law enforcement officers suspected that the archaeological objects might have belonged to Ukraine – the examinations confirmed these fears. The American side also turned to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine – there they finally confirmed that the artifacts are of Ukrainian origin. Among the stolen valuables were: Akinaki swords of the Scythian culture of the VI-V centuries BC. (area of ​​distribution – forest-steppe, steppe part of Ukraine and Crimean Autonomous Republic); a polished flint ax of the 3rd millennium BC, which, according to the Institute of Archeology of Ukraine, belongs to the spherical amphora culture (area – distribution in the north-western part of Ukraine); Polovtsian sabers from the times of the Old Russian state of the 11th-12th centuries and many other artifacts. The return of archaeological monuments, which were tried to be illegally imported into the United States from Russia, became possible thanks to the cooperation of Ukrainian diplomats in the United States. It will be recalled that earlier the Russian occupiers seized the museum with Scythian gold in Melitopol, took away from Mariupol the original paintings of outstanding artists, and stole the medallion art collection of Yukhim Harabet. The Russians also looted the Kherson Local History Museum: numerous historical artifacts were transported to the occupied Genichesk. Read also: The history of Scythian gold from Melitopol, which Ukrainians found, then buried and could not save from Russia. PODCAST



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