Ukrainian ambassador meets with Bosnian officials on the return of the icon to Ukraine

According to Ukrinform, Kyrylych announced this on Twitter.

"We talked with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Turkovic about the return of the icon to Ukraine. I hope that the date of arrival of Ukrainian experts in Sarajevo will be quickly determined and the aid will be provided in accessing the Ukrainian icon," the diplomat wrote.

He also reported that he had discussed with the chief prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina the issue of cooperation between both sides in the icon case. "The chief prosecutor assured that multiple investigative actions were carried out in this case," the Ukrainian ambassador said.

As reported, the scandal surrounding the Orthodox icon of Ukrainian origin arose when a member of the Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, presented it to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on December 14, 2020.

On December 17, the Embassy of Ukraine in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a note to the Foreign Ministry of this country demanding to provide information about the origin of the old gilded icon presented to Lavrov.

On December 21, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy analyzed the image of the mark on this icon published in the media and found out its origin. This is the seal of the Odessa Regional Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Material Culture and Nature, created in 1926 at the Odessa historical and Archaeological Museum.

Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it had returned the icon to the BiH Embassy to investigate its origin with the participation of Interpol.

The Bosnian ambassador to Moscow said that he personally brought the icon from Moscow and handed it over to the Office of the chairman of the Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik.