The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has opened an exhibition titled "Return of Kherson’s Memory. Stolen Art Preserved in Museum Artprints," featuring 30 high-quality reproductions of masterpieces stolen by Russian forces from the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko in autumn 2022. The stolen works include pieces by artists Mykola Pymonenko, Ivan Aivazovsky, and Viktor Zaretsky, among over 10,000 items illegally removed from the museum just before Kherson’s de-occupation. The exhibition was organized by the museum team and the art platform Vivid Fusion.
This exhibition matters because it documents and publicizes what Ukrainian officials describe as a war crime—the systematic looting of cultural heritage during Russia's full-scale invasion. Deputy Foreign Minister Maryana Betsa emphasized that removing museum valuables is an attack on Ukrainian identity and must be recorded for international judicial bodies. The project also highlights ongoing efforts to recover stolen art, with Interpol now involved, and recent evidence that two paintings by Yehor Tolkunov were spotted in occupied Crimea, underscoring the urgency of restitution.