Millions in art theft in Ukraine
Madrid police catch thieving priest and his gang
October 23, 2023, 10:12 p.m
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Until 2013, a Kiev museum is exhibiting gold jewelry from the Scythians that is more than a thousand years old. Afterwards, eleven artifacts belonging to Ukraine’s historical heritage disappeared without a trace. Ten years later, the jewelry was found in the apartment of an Orthodox priest in Madrid.
Spanish police have confiscated centuries-old gold jewelry in Madrid that was stolen from Ukraine years ago and brought illegally out of the country. The eleven pieces of jewelry, which are part of Ukraine’s historical heritage, were exhibited in a museum in Kiev between 2009 and 2013, the police said. They then went missing and were smuggled out of the country before 2016.
According to police, it is Scythian gold jewelry from the eighth to fourth centuries BC, including necklaces, earrings and a belt decorated with ram heads. The value is estimated at 60 million euros.
The majority of the stolen jewelry was supposed to be sold in Madrid. Attached fake documents in English, Ukrainian and Spanish were intended to make it appear that the jewelry was legally owned by the Orthodox Church. It is not known which of the various Orthodox churches in Ukraine these are.
Two Ukrainians and three Spaniards arrested
The majority of the artifacts were confiscated in September from the apartment of an Orthodox priest from Ukraine living in Madrid who is said to have forged the documents together with a compatriot. The two were arrested along with three Spaniards.
The police got on the trail of the gang in 2021 when they discovered the ram belt from a businessman from Madrid who had bought it through private channels. Authorities in Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and North Macedonia were involved in the subsequent investigation.
The police said the jewelry could not have been sold through normal legal channels such as auction houses. It is currently being examined by the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid and the Cultural Heritage Institute in Madrid. The jewelry will later be returned to Ukraine.