Russian soldiers have plundered a Ukrainian museum and walked away with nearly two hundred valuable artifacts.
The city of Melitopol, which lies in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southeastern Ukraine, has been occupied by invading Russian forces since February 26.
Following the city’s occupation, the staff at Melitopol Museum of Local History hid the most valuable treasures in the cellar beneath to prevent them from being looted, The New York Times reported.
When the troops came and threatened the staff at gunpoint, museum workers allegedly refused to take them to the cellar and show them where they had hidden the artifacts.
The Russian military has since appointed a new museum director and the soldiers were allegedly allowed into the cellar from which they stole 198 valuable artifacts.
Among the stolen treasures was reportedly also a 2,500-year-old golden crown belonging to the fearful Scythian civilization.
“We hid everything but somehow they found it,” a staff member said.
It is believed that the stolen artifacts were or will be taken to annexed Crimea in an attempt to boost the region’s historical and cultural ties to Russia.
“The orcs have taken hold of our Scythian gold. We don’t know where they took it. We don’t know about its fate. But we hope we can get it back,” Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov said.
Mr. Fedorov was previously kidnapped by Russian troops before undergoing six days of “psychological torture.”
The legitimate mayor of Melitopol was eventually released as part of a prisoner exchange.
“They came to me at night with five or seven soldiers and spoke for about four or five hours, hard dialogue. They wanted to make an example of me about what would happen if we did not agree to what the Russians wanted,” he recalled.
“Russian soldiers assumed that they would be welcomed but they were not… and that is why the Russians were very, very angry.”
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