Australia returns looted Ukrainian artifacts to Kyiv

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications two archaeological objects that were illegally exported from Ukraine to Australia.

"This is a temporal pendant, probably from the era of the Yamnaya cultural and historical community of the 3rd millennium BC, and an arrowhead, typical of ancient Russian monuments of the 12th–13th centuries," the ministry said in a statement.

It is noted that in close cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the past 10 years, a number of cultural values that were stolen from the Ukrainian people during World War II, as well as in the 2020s, have been returned to Ukraine.

Among them: the paintings "Lovers" by the French artist Pierre-Louis Goudreau and "The Secret Departure of Ivan the Terrible before the Oprichnina" by the Ukrainian artist Mykhailo Panin (from the United States of America); Tsar’s charter of Peter the Great in 1708 (from Germany), "Scythian gold" (from the Netherlands) and others.

The department recalled that the history of the return of cultural values illegally exported from Ukraine to Australia began in October 2023, when the Australian Border Service discovered two packages sent from Ukraine containing archaeological objects.

After that, an inspection began regarding the possible illegal export of cultural values from the territory of our state, and in February 2025, the Australian Minister for the Arts Tony Burke signed an order to return two archaeological objects to Ukraine, and in August of this year he personally handed the values to the Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

During the transfer ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha stated that the return of Ukrainian artifacts is an important component of restoring historical justice and confirming the historical continuity of Ukraine.

"This is especially important in the conditions when Russia is waging a genocidal war against Ukraine and is trying to erase our history. Each returned historical object is part of our national memory and our identity. We will continue to actively work on the return and preservation of our cultural heritage," his press service quotes him as saying.

As reported, in October 2023, 14 cultural values, previously stolen by Russian invaders from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, were transferred to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve.

In March 2023, the American side transferred to Ukraine a flint ax from the Late Eneolithic - Early Bronze Age, two iron sabers and an iron sword from the Middle Ages.