The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) has released data from Russian archaeologists who conducted excavations at Chersonesos Taurica in occupied Crimea

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published information on five individuals involved in illegal archaeological work in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The intelligence agency also released information on 14 stolen Ukrainian cultural artifacts.

 

The information was published on the War&Sanctions portal in the “Stolen Heritage” section.

As noted, since 2020–2021, Russian invaders have been conducting large-scale illegal archaeological excavations on the territory of and near Chersonesos Taurica as part of the “New Chersonesos” project. In particular, in July 2024, as part of this project, the “New Chersonesos” historical and archaeological park and museum-temple complex was opened.

According to military intelligence, the construction of the complex was accompanied by interference with the site’s historical and archaeological environment. As a result, the construction work led to significant damage and the destruction of part of the cultural layer.

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) has released information on four individuals involved in the implementation of this project, including:

• Natalia Solovyova—director of the Center for Rescue Archaeology at the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
• Ivan Yesin—director of the “My History” Foundation for the Support of the Humanities;
• Maksym Zhukalov—the so-called deputy governor of Sevastopol;
• Larisa Shepko—a professor in the Department of World History at “Donetsk State University.”

“Among those named is also Nadezhda Milikhina, a junior research fellow in the Department of Ancient Culture at the Institute of Material Culture History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a federal state budgetary scientific institution of the Russian Federation. She served as the deputy to Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin during the illegal Mirmekian archaeological expedition organized by the State Hermitage Museum in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea,” the intelligence report added.

As the Main Intelligence Directorate noted, in 2024, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol notified Butyagin that he was suspected of the intentional and unlawful partial destruction of a cultural heritage site. In 2026, the charge was changed to “violation of the laws and customs of war.” At the end of 2025, he was detained in Poland, and in April 2026, Poland released him and handed him over to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.

In addition, the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) released information about 14 cultural artifacts looted from the “Ancient City of Mirmekium” during this expedition. Among them are a coin of Savromates II, king of the Bosporan Kingdom (180–196 CE), and a black-lacquered one-handed kanfar (370–350 BCE).

Source: Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense

As a reminder, Chersonesos Taurica has been added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

UNESCO has also recognized that three of Ukraine’s World Heritage sites are in danger.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized UNESCO for refusing to acknowledge the Russian shelling of the Lavra.

Earlier, two Russian drones deliberately attacked the Lavra and the Art Arsenal—Zelenskyy