August 19, 2023

Ukraine's "War and Art" Database


Ukraine's "War and Art" Database
Painted Ukraine flag. Tim Mossholder, Unsplash.

Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has published an online database of art belonging to sanctioned Russians, which seeks to thwart the illegal trade of art and antiquities stolen during Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The “War and Art” database reports that “Russian oligarchs and other sanctioned individuals can still easily hide and launder their funds through art, despite the sanctions imposed on them. Paintings, sculptures, artistic jewelry – this is exactly what they use as a loophole to circumvent sanctions.”

With over 300 items valued at more than $2 billion, the NACP aims to bolster efforts against sanctions evasion, actively seeking artworks linked to sanctioned Russians, so that they can potentially be frozen, seized, and repatriated to Ukraine.

Featured in the database are notable collectors such as ex-Chelsea owner and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. He reportedly owns Francis Bacon’s Triptych, 1976, Alberto Giacometti's The Venetian Woman I, and a set of eight albums from Ilya Kabakov’s 10 Characters series. The database also lists other figures like Uzbek-Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, Russian rapper Timati, Russian producer Yana Rudkovskaya, and Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev (who sold Leonardo da Vinci’s Savior of the World for $450.3 million).

You Might Also Like

Frozen Fortunes
  • June 23, 2023

Frozen Fortunes

And oligarch wants to donate funds to the victims of the war on both sides.
War and Beef
  • June 07, 2023

War and Beef

Sculptures of soldiers and tanks made from ground meat are making waves.
Evading Sanctions
  • May 22, 2023

Evading Sanctions

Western sanctions are not preventing Russia from supplying its military from abroad.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955