Russian Troops Loot Ancient Scythian Gold Artifacts from Melitopol Museum

Over 200 Scythian Gold Ornaments from Around 4th Century BC Stolen

On the 29th (local time), cleaners are preparing to work at the explosion site in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv immediately after the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres the day before. Photo by AP=Yonhap [Image source=Yonhap]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 30th of last month (local time) that Russian troops invading Ukraine looted valuable artifacts, including ancient Scythian gold ornaments, displayed at a museum in the occupied city of Melitopol.

Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol, posted a video on his Facebook account on the same day, claiming that Russia took the Scythian gold ornaments, considered the most valuable collection in Ukraine, from a museum in the city.

Leila Ibragimova, director of the Melitopol Regional History Museum, which housed the artifacts, stated that at least 198 gold artifacts, including 300-year-old silver coins and ancient weapons, were stolen.

She added that despite the museum hiding the collection after the war broke out on February 24 to prevent looting, Russian troops found and took them.

The museum has housed about 50,000 exhibits ranging from various medals from the former Soviet era to ancient relics such as warriors' axes. Among these, the most precious exhibits are the Scythian gold ornaments that were looted this time.

Director Ibragimova said she placed some artifacts, including the gold ornaments, in thick paper boxes and hid them in a warehouse before fleeing Melitopol about a month ago to an area controlled by Ukrainian forces.

During her escape, on the 27th of last month, she received a report from a museum guard that a man wearing a white laboratory coat, presumed to be an artifact expert, came with Russian soldiers and intelligence agents, pointed a gun, and threatened to reveal the location of the artifacts.

Despite the threats, the guard remained silent about the location of the artifacts, but the Russian side eventually found them through a Ukrainian collaborator named Yevgeny Golachev.

The stolen artifacts belong to the Scythians, a "Golden Civilization" people who appeared in the grasslands along the Black Sea coast after the 7th century BCE and were known to worship gold.