The SBU has charged two Russian archaeologists with conducting illegal excavations in Crimea
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has charged Russian archaeologists Mark Kramarovsky and Emil Seydaliev with conducting illegal excavations in occupied Crimea. According to the investigation, they carried out the work without permits from the Ukrainian authorities and removed archaeological artifacts.
Some of the items found, including parts of an ancient water supply system and ceramic artifacts, were transferred to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, where they were added to the Russian Federation’s museum collection.
They excavated medieval Solkhat after the occupation of Crimea
The individuals named in the proceedings are 86-year-old Mark Kramarovsky—a leading research fellow in the Department of Oriental Studies at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg—and 43-year-old Emil Seydaliev — a senior research fellow at the “Crimean Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” established by the occupiers.
According to the investigation, after the occupation of the peninsula, they continued archaeological work on the territory of the “Medieval Solkhat Settlement” in Eski-Kyrym (Old Crimea) without the necessary permits from Ukraine.
The occupying authorities issued so-called “open letters” to carry out the work, but these do not grant the right to conduct archaeological research on occupied Ukrainian territory.
Law enforcement officials claim that the excavations damaged the cultural layer of the archaeological site.
The artifacts were transported to Russia and added to a museum collection
During the work, archaeologists recovered a number of items, including elements of an ancient water supply system, a glazed tray, and a bowl with plant motifs.
According to the investigation, some of the finds were transferred to the State Hermitage Museum. There, they were added to the catalog of the Russian Federation’s Museum Collection and registered as museum artifacts.
The actions of both suspects were classified under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—violation of the laws and customs of war.
Investigators believe that the archaeological work was carried out without military necessity, and that the removal and subsequent registration of the artifacts in Russia created conditions for the misappropriation of Ukrainian cultural heritage.
This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, citing the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the notices of suspicion published by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The Hermitage has canceled all archaeological expeditions to occupied Crimea.
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