Ukraine asked Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to give it an Orthodox icon, which a member of the country’s Presidium Milorad Dodik presented the Russian Foreign Minister with Sergey Lavrov . This was reported by RIA Novosti citing the press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleg Nikolenko.
According to him, Kiev asked the country’s authorities to immediately transfer the relic for scientific expertise. He added that assistance to BiH in this matter “would confirm that it has a true political will to develop friendly relations with Ukraine, respect for its sovereignty.”
Nikolenko added that the Ukrainian authorities are ready to cooperate with the Bosnian-Herzegovinian investigating authorities to clarify the circumstances related to the removal of the icon from the territory of Ukraine. To solve this problem Kiev also attracted the staff of Interpol .
On December 17, the Ukrainian Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a note to Sarajevo demanding to urgently provide information about the icon donated to Lavrov, as well as facilitate her immediate return to her homeland. “The embassy claims that the icon is a cultural benefit of Ukraine,” announced the head of MFA Bosnia and Herzegovina Biser Turkovich. Russia returned a gift on December 23.
A gilded Orthodox icon from Lugansk during the Russian Empire was presented to Lavrov by the head of the Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik. On the back of the relic there is a seal with the inscription “People’s Commissar of Education of the Ukrainian SSR”.