At the dawn of the Bolshevik era, the Cheka routinely seized art held in private hands and either transferred it to state institutions or sold it for the benefit of the Soviet State. Now, under Vladimir Putin, the FSB is doing the same thing, further compromising private ownership and giving the powers even greater control over Russia’s heritage.
OP-ED
Paul Goble: Putin regime revives Soviet practice of seizing art
Russian Boxing Federation lifts a portrait of late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin with a hot air balloon, close to city of Belogorsk outside Simferopol, Crimea, on May 11, 2020, to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II also called the Great Patriotic War, amid the coronavirus (COVID) pandemic.
