ROME, May 11. /TASS/. Masterpieces by Italian and world artists stolen from Verona’s Castelvecchio Museum last year have been found in Ukraine’s Odessa region, the Italian ANSA news agency said on Wednesday.

"Seventeen Renaissance paintings including canvases by Mantegna, Pisanello, Rubens and Tintoretto stolen from Verona's Castelvecchio Museum in November have been recovered in Ukraine," the agency said.

The paintings were readied for smuggling into Moldova.

Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service head, Col Gen Viktor Nazarenko said that the operation took place on May 6. The canvasses with an estimated value of 16mln euros were recovered 1.5 kilometer from Ukraine’s border, readied for further transportation to Moldova.

The Castelvecchio Museum was robbed overnight to November 19, 2015.