In Warsaw, a Russian archaeologist, Alexander Butyagin, head of the Hermitage department, was arrested. He has been wanted in Ukraine since last November for participating in illegal excavations in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Now, this scholar travelled for scientific purposes: he delivered educational lectures in several European countries. Fortunately, the offender was noticed in Poland and detained. We hope for further coordination between the law enforcement agencies of Poland and Ukraine in this case.

Regrettably, there are many such Russian “scholars”. Therefore, we once again urge the museum and the international scientific community not to collaborate with them. These scientists severely breach international and Ukrainian laws.

Our museum has repeatedly emphasised the inadmissibility of cooperating with the Russians conducting illegal excavations in Crimea and other regions of Ukraine, which they have managed to occupy. In particular, we address this issue in the exhibition “Treasures of Crimea. Return”, which is dedicated to artefacts from Crimean museums that Ukraine has managed to return after nearly a decade of legal battles. We also mention in the exhibition space the activities of Alexander Butyagin at the archaeological site within Kerch, the ancient city of Myrmekion.

Let us recall that since 2014, Crimea has been under Russian occupation. In violation of international law, the Russians and Crimean archaeologists and museum workers collaborating with them are engaging in illegal activities:

- Carrying out propaganda through exhibitions and publications.

- Removing museum exhibits from Crimea to Russia, at least for exhibitions.

- Conducting illicit archaeological research, including sites from which artefacts are displayed at our exhibition.