SCYTHIAN GOLD SALE IN SPAIN: UNRAVELING THE CONNECTION TO RUSSIAN CHURCH

The Spanish police in Madrid detained criminals who tried to sell ancient gold items stolen from Ukraine worth EUR 60 million. It is about 11 items, including jewelry: complex necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, which date from the Greco-Scythian period between the 8th and 4th centuries BC.

The thieves were caught red-handed. The operation took place with the cooperation of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Bureau of Economic Security and the police of the Kingdom of Spain.

The jewelry was smuggled out of Ukraine in 2016. Previously, they were exhibited in one of the Kyiv museums. Documents were forged on the artifacts to make it look like they belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

“Five members of a gang who tried to illegally sell Ukrainian artifacts were detained in Madrid as a result of an international special operation. Among those detained is a representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP),” SSU spokesman Artem Dekhtiarenko said.

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Antiquities were seized. Experts established that the products belong to the cultural heritage of Ukraine. All exhibits are currently being studied at the National Archaeological Museum and the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain

The investigation is ongoing, as well as complex measures to establish the location of all Ukrainian artifacts of Scythian Gold that were stolen from the territory of Ukraine, the SSU added.