Scythian Gold Returns to Ukraine

by Olha Povaliaieva
Friday, June 9, 2023
1 MIN
Scythian Gold Returns to Ukraine

On June 9, the Dutch Supreme Court put an end to the question of the homeland of a priceless collection of cultural artefacts from Kyiv and the Crimea

In the summer of 2013, the Kyiv museum and 4 museums in Crimea collected 584 items made of gold, ceramics, wood, etc. and sent them to an exhibition at the Rhine museum in Bonn, Germany. The collection, estimated at around €1 million, has been given the general title of Scythian gold.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and appropriated everything in it for itself. By that time, the exhibition in Bonn was over, and the question arose of where to return the collection: to Kyiv or the Crimea. Since Crimea was under Russian occupation, sending the collection to Ukrainian-controlled Kyiv was reasonable. However, the Russian side did not agree with this and, on behalf of the collective "Crimean museums", filed a lawsuit to transfer the treasure to Crimea. 

The entire world community understood that by "Crimea", Russia meant "Russia". The war for gold lasted 9 years. And today, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands made a final decision to return the collection under the patronage of Ukraine to Kyiv. The exhibits will return to Crimea when the last invader leaves the territory of Ukraine.

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