THE HAGUE, Netherlands—Historical treasures that were stored for years at an Amsterdam museum during an ownership dispute sparked by Russia’s annexation of Crimea have been safely transported to Ukraine, the museum announced Monday.
Their transport ends a nearly decade-long legal tug-of-war over the artifacts including a solid gold Scythian helmet from the 4th century B.C. and a golden neck ornament from the second century A.D. that weighs more than a kilogram (two pounds).
“This was a special case, in which cultural heritage became a victim of geopolitical developments,” Els van der Plas, director of the Allard Pierson historical museum, said in a statement.
The museum displayed the 300 artifacts from four museums in Crimea in an exhibition that opened a month before the Russian annexation in 2014.
Both the Ukrainian government in Kyiv and the four Crimean museums that had loaned bronze swords, golden helmets, precious gems, and other artifacts to the Allard Pierson demanded the objects back.
After a series of lower court decisions, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in June that the museum must return the treasures to Ukraine and not to the four museums from which they…
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