The US Border and Customs Service handed over to Ukraine museum valuables stolen from the occupied territories. According to the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, these are several Scythian swords of the 6th-5th centuries BC, a flint ax from the 3rd century BC. and Polovtsian sabers of the XI-XII centuries.
They tried to illegally import these artifacts into the United States from Russia. Customs officers intercepted the cargo at the New York airport, and further examination revealed that the items belonged to Ukraine.
In total, US authorities intercepted 20 shipments of archaeological treasures that lacked accompanying documents. All of them were sent from July to September 2022 from the Krasnodar Territory and from the occupied Ukrainian territories.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, who took part in the ceremony for the return of valuables, said that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian troops have stolen thousands of artifacts and works of art from Ukrainian museums.