Arkhip Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol
In Mariupol, Russian troops destroyed the building of the Arkhip Kuindzhi Art Museum, which housed the original paintings of world-famous artists.
The press service of the Mariupol City Council informed about this.
According to Konstantin Chernyavsky, the Head of the National Union of Ukrainian Artists, the original canvases of Arkhip Kuindzhi were not in the museum when it was shelled, only copies by Andriy Yalansky and Oleksandr Olkhov remained.
At the same time, the museum housed original canvases by other Ukrainian artists e. g. Ivan Aivazovsky, Mykola Glushchenko,Tatiana Yablonska, Mykhailo Deregus and others. Their fate is currently unknown.
The museum fund had about two thousand exhibits, including works of art, decorative and applied arts, graphics and sculpture.
"The occupiers are purposefully killing the civilian population of Mariupol, continuing to destroy critical infrastructure, our culture and everything Ukrainian," the City Council said.
Please be reminded that the Russian troops purposefully destroyed the Drama Theater in the center of Mariupol on March 16. This building served as a bomb shelter for hundreds of citizens. A bomb was dropped on the building. People hiding in the basement of the building survived.