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Stolen painting handed over to Russia's Culture Ministry

The police have delivered Kuindzhi's painting to the Culture Ministry

Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting "Ai-Petri. Crimea" Russia's Interior Ministry/TASS

Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting "Ai-Petri. Crimea"

© Russia's Interior Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Police have handed Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting "Ai-Petri. Crimea," which was stolen from Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery on January 27, over to the Russian Culture Ministry, head of the ministry’s Museum Department Vladislav Kononov told TASS on Wednesday.

"Police have handed the painting over to the Culture Ministry," he said.

Museum theft

The painting titled "Ai-Petri. Crimea" by Arkhip Kuindzhi was stolen from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on January 27. The suspect, Denis Chuprikov, was detained in hot pursuit in the Zarechye settlement, Moscow Region. He said he had hidden the paining at a construction site in the Odintsovo District where it was eventually recovered.

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Police sources pointed out that the suspect was on bail in connection with a drug passion case. According to preliminary information, the crime was committed for financial gain. Investigators are working to establish the suspect’s possible accomplices.

Kuindzhi’s 39 by 53 cm painting in oil on canvas and paper dates back to the 1890s. It comes from the collection of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and was brought to Moscow for an exhibition of the artist’s masterpieces.

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