Spanish police have recovered gold jewellery illegally taken from Ukraine in 2016.
The artefacts, which are considered part of Ukraine’s historical heritage, are worth 60 million euros ($64 million).
“The seized pieces, gold jewellery of great historical and economic value, had been stolen and illegally exported from Ukraine and were to be sold in Madrid,” police said on Monday.
Police arrested three Spaniards and two Ukrainians, including the “main suspect”, an Orthodox priest who was trying to sell the jewellery.
The pieces went missing between 2009 and 2013 after being put on display at a museum in Kyiv.
Spanish police launched an investigation in 2021 after a businessman in Madrid bought a gold belt in a private sale.
This led investigators to the other 10 artefacts seized from the suspects last month. Police also found forged documents in English, Ukrainian and Spanish to make it look as if the jewellery belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Authorities in Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and North Macedonia helped with the investigation.
Spain’s National Archaeological Museum and the country’s Institute of Cultural Heritage examined the pieces.
