Ukraine opposes the illegal transfer of "Scythian gold" to Russia, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine said.

On April 22, 2021, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Svitlana Fomenko takes part in a session of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal on the claim of the state of Ukraine against the Allard Pearson Museum - the archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam in the so-called "Scythian gold" case, the ministry's press release says.

"During her speech, the Deputy Minister said: Ukraine opposes the illegal transfer of ownership of the artifacts of the Ukrainian exhibition 'Crimea. The Golden Island in the Black Sea' to the Russian Federation, to Russian institutions hidden under the name of the so-called 'Crimean museums' that exist only within the framework of court cases," the press service of the Ministry of Culture says.

According to Fomenko, Russian institutions calling themselves "museums" are in fact thieves.

"We are aware of numerous facts of illegal export of Ukrainian cultural values from the territory of Crimea. For example, priceless masterpieces of Ivan Aivazovsky were removed. We know about the facts of damage, destruction of cultural heritage sites, facts of illegal archaeological excavations and the appropriation of found values. This concerns the UNESCO World Heritage Site - the ancient city of Tauric Chersonesus and its choir, suffering from unprofessional management and illegal reconstruction. The Khan's Palace in Bakhchisaray, which Ukraine has included in the preliminary list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is the only example of Crimean Tatar palace architecture in the world - almost destroyed," the ministry said.

The Deputy Minister of Culture stressed that the occupation authorities regard the Crimean Peninsula as a base of military operations for further military escalation in Europe and around the world.

"Now Crimea is a place where cultural values are not protected and are not preserved for future generations," she added.

The Ministry of Culture said that the decision to send artifacts belonging to the Ukrainian people from the Ukrainian exhibition "Crimea. The Golden Island in the Black Sea" to Crimea now, when it is under Russian control, is illegal and will lead to the loss of the cultural heritage of Ukraine, and will also become recognition of the attempted annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.