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09:00, 28.01.21 World 277
The contested piece of art, which Ukraine says is part of its cultural heritage, has earlier sparked a diplomatic row.
Collage from Facebook, Balkan Observer
Ukraine is ready to urgently send its experts to Sarajevo, asking local authorities to provide the group access to the icon, which was smuggled out of the occupied Luhansk before resurfacing in Bosnia and ultimately being presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
That s according to Ukraine s Ambassador Vasyl Kyrylych, who spoke in Sarajevo with Bosnia s Minister for Foreign Affairs Bisera Turkovic, Ukrainian Pravda reports.
During the meeting, Kyrylych emphasized the fact that Ukraine had never given permission to export the icon in the first place.
Collage by 112 Ukraine
The Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, says he will transfer to Ukraine a centuries-old Orthodox icon, which had earlier been handed as a gift to Russia s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on condition that Kyiv proves it has actually been searching for it earlier.
That s according to the Ukrainian media outlet European Pravda, referring to Radio Slobodna Evropa on January 15.
In particular, Dodik said he had not heard back from the Ukrainian side as to whether they were searching for the icon, and no data related to it was allegedly provided whatsoever.
UAWire
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 11:00:00 AM
The cost of the 300-year-old gilded icon from Luhansk, which the co-chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik gave to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, can be as mach as 12.5 million euros.
According to Bosnian TV channel BN TV, the icon was kept in the bank Bank of Srpska, which went bankrupt and was taken over by UKIO.
According to sources close to Dodik s cabinet, the politician believed that, presenting this gift, he would only return to Russia what previously belonged to it, and thus further strengthen the ties with this country.
According to the sources, this gift to the Russian Foreign Minister was not allowed by the government protocol. After the scandal, Lavrov returned the icon to the Bosnian Embassy in Moscow.
11:55, 12.01.21 Ukraine 581
The icon is almost 300 years old and was stored in the Ukrainian city of Luhansk, which is now occupied by Russian-controlled forces.
Collage from Facebook / Balkan Observer for Ukraine
A 300-year-old Ukrainian icon, originally from the occupied city of Luhansk, which has earlier been handed as a gift to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is estimated at EUR 12.5 million.
The icon was kept in the Banke Srpske deposit until its bankruptcy, and later was deposited with the Lithuanian-owned UKIO bank. It is not known when and how the icon got into the Bosnian bank, as reported by Balkan Observer for Ukraine on Facebook with reference to the Bosnian BN TV channel.