A pro-Russian official has revealed that the remains of a prince from the 18th century were taken from a cathedral in Ukraine, along with other historical artifacts.
The forces claim that they ‘protected’ the remains by removing the statue to Potemkin, a Russian war hero, and a bag holding his skull and bones from St Catherine’s Cathedral in Kherson.
His remains, including meticulously numbered bones, were contained in a black bag within his coffin.
Vladimir Saldo, the alleged head of the Kremlin-backed administration in Russian-held Kherson, stated, ‘We moved the relics of the holy prince from St. Catherine’s Cathedral to the left bank.
We personally transported Potemkin. These were my decisions since they were within the scope of my authority, duties, and responsibilities.
In an interview with Crimea 24, a Putin mouthpiece, Saldo made the astonishing admission that pro-Russian officials had stolen cultural and historical artifacts.
Mr. Saldo, a Ukrainian politician who abandoned his own country at the beginning of the conflict, stated that he had decided to relocate monuments, statues, and artifacts from the city.
Because our cause is just, every artifact shall return to its original location. We desire nothing more than a quiet existence,’ he remarked.
What was Gregory Potemkin’s identity?
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potyomkin-Tavricheski was a military commander, statesman, and Catherine the Great’s favorite.
He died during talks for the Treaty of Jassy (now Iași), which concluded the war he had directed against the Ottoman Empire.
Potemkin was born into a family of noble landowners with a middle-class income. He first won Catherine’s favor by assisting with her coup in 1762, and then distinguished himself as a military commander in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774).
He began dating Catherine. After their passion had subsided, he remained her lifelong companion and favored statesman.
He held numerous titles, including Holy Roman Empire and Prince of the Russian Empire.
Potemkin was the Grand Admiral and commander-in-chief of all of Russia’s land and irregular forces.
His accomplishments include the peaceful conquest of Crimea in 1783 and the smooth conclusion of the second Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792).
Potemkin was appointed governor-general of Russia’s new southern regions in 1775. Absolute monarch, he tried to colonize the vast steppes, engaging in controversially firm interactions with the indigenous Cossacks. He established Kherson, Nikolaev, Sevastopol, and Ekaterinoslav. Ports in the region became bases for his new Black Sea Fleet.
His rule in the south is associated with the, probably mythical, ‘Potemkin village’, a ruse involving the construction of painted façades to mimic real villages, full of happy, well-fed people, for visiting officials to see. Potemkin was renowned for his passion for women, gambling, and wealth. He oversaw the construction of numerous historically significant buildings, including St. Petersburg’s Tauride Palace.
His name features in Battleship Potemkin, a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by Sergei Eisenstein, it presents a dramatization of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against its officers.
At the 1958 World Expo, the film was voted number one on the prestigious Brussels 12 list. Battleship Potemkin is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.
It was rated the eleventh-greatest film of all time in the most recent Sight and Sound critics’ poll in 2012, and it ranked in the top 10 in all previous editions.
His statements hinted to the intense warfare that would engulf the southern region in the coming weeks as Ukraine attempts to reclaim the territory lost by Russia in March.
Potemkin was a general in the 18th century who wished to construct a New Russia for his lover, Catherine the Great, and annexed Crimea in 1783.
Additionally, he founded the cities of Odessa and Kherson in the present-day southern Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin is a well-known ardent admirer of the military leader and frequently cites his desire to restore the lost Russian empire.
The puppet politicians of the Russian dictator in southern Ukraine said last night that they had evacuated an extra 70,000 people from the area.
According to Kyiv, some of its own residents have been forcibly transferred to Russia.
The impending struggle for the city of Kherson at the mouth of the Dnipro River will determine if Ukraine can break Russia’s hold on the south.
The Russian-appointed regional government of Kherson has relocated to the left bank of the river in anticipation of increased fighting between Ukraine and the occupying forces.
General Oleksii Gromov, the head of the main operational department of the Ukrainian military’s general staff, stated that Russia may have staged explosions in residential buildings in the city of Kherson prior to withdrawing.
He stated that Russia’s objective was to cause irreparable damage to the infrastructure of the territories reclaimed by Ukraine.
As Ukrainian forces advance on the right bank of the Dnieper River, hundreds of civilians have already been transported across the river.
Several other statues and monuments in the city center of Kherson have been removed from their bases.
This included the 2003 erection of a Potemkin monument. The empty plinths were captured on film over the weekend in Kherson.
One historian responded to the removal of Potemkin’s remains on Twitter.
Simon Sebag Montefiore posed the question, “What will Putin do with the stolen body of Serenissimus Prince Potemkin of Taurida?”
“Though Potemkin would have despised Putin’s crude, savage nationalism, I foresee a pompous imperial TV production in which Putin would bury Potemkin in a glitzy new Moscow tomb and advertise his war,” the author writes.
However, a Russian official, Kirill Stremousov, minimized the possibility of a ground invasion of Kherson.
He stated, “We are protecting the heritage not from the Nazi invasion of the city, but from shelling that has become so erratic that it may now strike everything, from museums to schools and hospitals.”
Elsewhere, the president of Ukraine was skeptical that Russian forces would withdraw from Kherson.
Zelensky told Corriere Della Sera, “I do not anticipate Russians fleeing Kherson.”
This is a deception. This is a ruse to convince us to move our troops from other hotspots to this location.’
According to Ukrainian police, Russian forces have moved into residential structures in a number of cities.
This includes Kherson, which is rife with vacant buildings due to the evacuation of the area.
According to Ukrainian intelligence officials, Russian forces have forcibly removed at least 2,000 people and transported them to Crimea in recent days.
Many of the evacuees were children who, according to an unnamed official, were forcibly separated from their families in what they termed a ‘abduction.’