Accessibility links

Breaking News

Russian Court Sentences History Teacher For Hermitage Thefts


Nikolai Zavadsky in court on March 13 (ITAR-TASS) March 15, 2007 -- A St. Petersburg court has sentenced a history teacher to five years in prison for stealing dozens of works from the Hermitage Museum.

Nikolai Zavadsky pleaded guilty to stealing more than 200 silver and enamel artifacts worth an estimated $5 million.

Zavadsky said he sold the items to pawnshops and used the money to buy insulin for his diabetic wife, Larisa, who was a curator at the museum.

The Hermitage discovered the thefts when Zavadsky's wife died of a heart attack during an audit of the collection the couple was plundering.

"The fact that the valuables were stolen from the Hermitage by an organized group is proven beyond doubt by the consistency of the forms and methods used by the accomplices to carry out their criminal intentions: the identical nature of the objects of theft -- valuables in the custody of Zavadskaya -- and the method of selling them," Judge Anzhelika Morozova said in delivering the verdict today.

The court also ordered Zavadsky to pay the Hermitage 7.3 million rubles ($283,000) in damages.

(Reuters, AP, ITAR-TASS)

RFE/RL Russia Report

RFE/RL Russia Report


SUBSCRIBE For news and analysis on Russia by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Russia Report."

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG