Kherson, 2022: a museum emptied in five days

In the last two weeks before Russian forces withdrew from Kherson, people working for the occupation authorities loaded the city's museums, archive and cathedral relics onto trucks. From the Oleksii Shovkunenko Regional Art Museum alone more than 10,000 works left between 31 October and 4 November 2022 for a museum in occupied Crimea. Russia called it evacuation. Ukraine's Prosecutor General has named two suspects; the EU and the US have sanctioned the people in charge.

Removal of >10,000 works to Crimea, 31 Oct – 4 Nov 2022 — established (PGO; HRW; sanctions records) Looting of museums under occupation: Mariupol, Melitopol, Nova Kakhovka, Kherson — pattern (HRW) Pillage, a war crime — position (HRW; Ukraine, Art. 438 CCU)

Russia said. Ekaterina Gubareva, deputy head of the Russian-installed Kherson administration · 26 Oct 2022: “[The monument] must be saved at any cost, even at the cost of evacuation.” — Evacuation framing for removal. Days later more than 10,223 exhibits left the art museum for Simferopol (PGO); HRW calls the removals pillage.

Evidence held: UNESCO, verified list of damaged cultural sites (figures as of 29 Sep 2026); 1954 Hague Convention, First Protocol, para. 1; Office of the Prosecutor General; Kherson Art Museum staff accounts as quoted by Ukrainian officials and media, Nov 2022.

Photo & video · 2 photos

The Kherson Art Museum building, the former City Duma on Soborna Street, before the full-scale invasion (2009)

Павло Подобєд · серпень 20 · Public domain · original ↗

SHA-256 778938be3ed70613… · 226 KB

Kherson after liberation, 14 Nov 2022 — ten days after the occupation authorities finished removing the museum's collection

Defense of Ukraine · 2022-11-14 · Public domain · original ↗

SHA-256 889610676f3e8404… · 57 KB

Download pack (ZIP · 2 files)Openly licensed official material only; videos are linked to the official post. No image shows the dead; images of graphic aftermath are blurred until tapped and marked sensitive in the pack. This is not an evidence repository: originals are held by the Prosecutor General (warcrimes.gov.ua) and the ICC OTP.