For ages, Russia has been described by experts as a “black hole of art crimes”. Since the early 1990s, post-Soviet countries have become rife with forgeries, art objects with faked provenances, and looted artifacts sold on the black market. People from the industry knew: if a painting, sculpture, or artifact turned up in Russia, there was almost no chance of recovering it. 

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This situation has exploded into a catastrophe since the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine in 2022. Looting, a war practice dating back to ancient times, has escalated tremendously. Over 480,000 pieces, from ancient Scythian gold to contemporary art, have been stolen or destroyed, devastating Ukraine’s cultural identity. In Kherson alone, 15,000 items were looted under Russian state guidance. Some items emerge on Russian and global black markets, some are stored in secrecy in state museums, some are openly displayed with fanfare, and some even appear on eBay. Despite global efforts to curb illegal art sales, demand remains high. 

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In his book, built upon extensive historical research and interviews with the victims, the experts and the detectives, Yegor Mostovshikov presents an unexpected, but important perspective towards Putin’s war with Ukraine. This is a classic true crime nonfiction, which reads like a novel, but the reader can only hope that, in the end, the perpetrators will be punished. 

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