Russian forces looted two museums in Kherson in the fall of 2022 — the Art Museum and the Museum of Local History. As the Russian army retreated amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it seized over 33,000 pieces of art and historical artifacts, including Scythian, Gothic, and Sarmatian gold. This heist became the largest in Europe since World War II.

There are few remaining witnesses on the Ukrainian side, while Moscow has kept all details of the operation classified and refuses to release any information.

Two years later, Ukrainian authorities have made little progress in investigating the looting of Kherson’s museums. Media reports have mainly focused on defectors who collaborated with Russian forces to facilitate the theft of the treasures.

In partnership with the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit, I set out to investigate who orchestrated the illegal removal of these artifacts and to uncover the current whereabouts of the collections from Kherson’s museums.