Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence has published details of five individuals allegedly involved in illegal archaeological work in occupied Crimea, as well as information on 14 cultural artefacts taken during an archaeological expedition.
According to Defence Intelligence, since 2020–2021 Russian occupation authorities have been conducting illegal archaeological work at and around the ancient city of Tauric Chersonese as part of the “New Chersonese” project. In July 2024, a historical and archaeological park and the “New Chersonese” museum and religious complex were opened as part of the project.
Defence Intelligence also published information on 14 cultural artefacts taken from the Ancient City of Myrmekion during an illegal archaeological expedition conducted by the State Hermitage Museum in temporarily occupied Crimea. They include a coin from the reign of Sauromates II, king of the Bosporan Kingdom (180–196 AD), and a black-glazed one-handled kantharos dating from 370–350 BC.
“The construction of the complex involved interference with the historical and archaeological environment of the site. Construction work resulted in significant damage to and destruction of part of the cultural layer,” Defence Intelligence said.
According to Defence Intelligence, those involved in the project include Natalia Solovyova, director of the Rescue Archaeology Centre at the Institute for 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; Maksim Zhukalov, the so-called deputy governor of Sevastopol; and Larisa Shepko, professor at the Department of World History at the “Donetsk State University”.
Defence Intelligence also published information on Nadezhda Milikhina, a junior researcher at the Department of the History of Ancient Culture of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to Defence Intelligence, she served as deputy to Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin during the State Hermitage Museum’s illegal Myrmekion archaeological expedition in temporarily occupied Crimea.
“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 deliberate illegal partial destruction of a cultural heritage site,” Defence Intelligence said.
In 2026, the charges against Butyagin were changed to “violations of the laws and customs of war”. He was detained in Poland in late 2025, but in April 2026 Poland released him and transferred him to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.
