**French Civil Society Organisation Demands Russia’s Exclusion from International Council of Museums**
A French organisation has launched a petition calling for Russia’s immediate expulsion from the International Council of Museums (ICOM) over allegations of looting Ukrainian cultural property. The petition, created by “Pour l’Ukraine, pour leur liberté et la nôtre!” (For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!), targets Russian museum staff involved in the plundering of Ukrainian collections in occupied territories.
The organisation claims that Russia’s goal is not only to destroy but also to appropriate Ukrainian heritage, with a focus on “Russifying” Ukrainian cultural assets. This alleged looting began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, when thousands of artworks were transferred from Crimean museums to Russian institutions. The petition highlights several instances of cultural property being stolen or destroyed, including:
* In 2016, the Tretyakov Gallery hosted an exhibition featuring works by Ivan Aivazovsky, with 38 pieces taken from Crimean collections.
* In 2022, over 13,000 objects were reportedly stolen from museums in Kherson, and important works by Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ivan Aivazovsky were seized in Mariupol.
* The “Scythian gold” collection from the Melitopol Museum of Local History simply disappeared.
The petition also emphasizes that collections from 77 Ukrainian museums in occupied territories have been included in the State Catalogue of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation, which is a clear violation of international law.
