Germany has promised to return several thousand icons to Russia. This was told by the head of the National Central Bureau of Interpol of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Major General Alexander Prokopchuk in an interview with TASS.
According to him, we are talking about three thousand relics confiscated by the customs authorities of Germany. Unknown persons tried to smuggle them into a European country.
Prokopchuk noted that the decision to return the icons was made on the basis of an expert opinion issued by specialists from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Interpol confirmed that the icons originated from Russia.
The head of the National Bureau of Interpol added that over the past 10 years, Moscow has managed to return more than 250 relics. Among them are icons of the 15th – 19th centuries “Boris and Gleb”, “Our Lady of Odigitria of Smolenskaya” and “Descent into Hell”, as well as written decrees of Russian tsars, a porcelain medallion with the profile of Peter I and other valuable things.
