Stolen Paintings of National Gallery Discovered

The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia and the RA Investigative Committee have uncovered details surrounding the theft of paintings from the National Gallery years ago, according to the NSS press center.

Specifically, operational information was received at the National Security Service indicating that two citizens of Armenia were attempting to sell the stolen works: Matthias Brasaun's "The Hunter" and Isaac Levitan's "Study. Spring Landscape".

It was confirmed that a criminal case was initiated in June 2012 at the RA Investigative Committee regarding the theft of ten museum objects, including the aforementioned paintings, from the exhibition hall and the director's office of the National Gallery between 1951 and 1992. However, the crime remained unresolved, the stolen museum items had not been recovered, and the criminal proceedings had been suspended due to the absence of a known suspect.

To uncover the crime and locate the stolen items from the National Gallery, comprehensive operational and investigative measures were carried out by employees of the RA National Security Service, the RA Investigative Committee, and with the support of the RA Police. As a result, immediately following the completion of a transaction involving the sale of the aforementioned paintings, individuals involved in the sale of culturally significant items and allegedly connected to the crime were discovered and detained.

The stolen paintings were found and confiscated from the suspects. Efforts are underway to ensure a thorough, objective, and comprehensive investigation of all circumstances of the case, to identify the full spectrum of individuals potentially related to the incident, and to locate them. The preliminary investigation is ongoing.

Notice: A person suspected or accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the rules established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, through a court decision that has entered into legal force.