{"id":3007,"date":"2020-12-19T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=141292"},"modified":"2020-12-19T12:26:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T12:26:00","slug":"russia-to-return-icon-gifted-to-lavrov-in-balkans-amid-signs-its-stolen-ukrainian-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/19\/russia-to-return-icon-gifted-to-lavrov-in-balkans-amid-signs-its-stolen-ukrainian-heritage\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia To ‘Return’ Icon Gifted To Lavrov In Balkans Amid Signs It’s Stolen Ukrainian Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"
Russia announced on December 19 that it is returning a centuries-old Orthodox icon that was given to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a visit this week to the Balkans after revelations that it might have been a protected cultural treasure stolen from Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The embarrassing episode began when Milorad Dodik, the Republika Srpska representative of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency, presented Moscow’s top diplomat with the artwork on December 14.<\/p>\n
“The icon will be returned to its donors for further clarification on its history via Interpol,” the Russian Foreign Ministry told journalists<\/a><\/strong> five days later.<\/p>\n A shared image of the artifact<\/a><\/strong> and its seal had suggested it might be from the Ukrainian city of Luhansk, which has been mostly controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014.<\/p>\n Its seal appeared to clearly state that it was Ukrainian “cultural heritage” under protection of authorities in the Odesa region.<\/p>\n