The State Bureau of Investigation exposed former People's Deputy Valery Gorbatov for financing the terrorist quasi-state formation "DPR" and stealing 6,066 artifacts from Crimea, which were stored in appalling conditions. Currently, the removed objects need restoration.
In particular, we are talking about ancient overlays on funeral sarcophagi (II century BC - I century BC), objects of Trypillia culture, weapons of the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, objects of Przeworsk culture (V century BC - III century AD), objects belonging to the "circle of notched enamels", Scandinavian swords of the X century, the bronze nash hryvnia.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, this collection of antiquities is the largest in the history of independent Ukraine. It is also noted that given the number of objects found; there are thousands of destroyed ancient cemeteries, illegal excavations and robberies.
Experts from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine believe that the seized historical artifacts belong to the epochs from the Bronze Age and the Late Middle Ages. According to Ukrainian law enforcement officers, part of the collection was probably stolen from the museums of the annexed Crimea and also bought from “black archaeologistsâ€.
Valery Gorbatov is a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the third and fourth convocations of the Verkhovna Rada and a former head of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
According to preliminary data, the collection costs several million dollars.
The search at his place took place as part of criminal proceedings on financing the DPR group, withdrawing funds to the Russian Federation from the territory of Ukraine, as well as doing business on the territory of the occupied Crimea.
“Officials of the State Bureau of Investigation have collected irrefutable evidence of Valery Gorbatov’s involvement in financing actions aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order in Ukraine, changing its borders or state borders and justifying aggression against Ukraine,†said Alexei Sukhachev, director of the State Bureau of Investigations.
In addition, law enforcement officials say they have discovered Gorbatov's close ties with the Russian head of the annexed Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, and their common business.
The ex-people's deputy faces up to 10 years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years and with confiscation of property.
At the moment, Gorbatov, according to law enforcement officers, is in the territories occupied by Russia, where he fled on the eve of full-scale Russian aggression.
