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Alexander Bastrykin instructs to check information about destruction of objects of cultural heritage

Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin has instructed the Leningrad Regional Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia to hold a probe upon a media request to the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia containing information about the destruction of objects of cultural heritage.

Public persons, museum workers, and ethnographers of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region addressed the Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia asking to inspect the situation around the destruction of historical buildings as a result of frequent fires.

For instance, on the night of September 17, 2019, one of the oldest wooden houses of the city had burnt down in Novaya Ladoga. It was a former church school constructed in 1894. The wooden building is an object of cultural heritage on the federal level. Earlier, the Protodyakonova wooden house had also burnt down. The authors of the address report that the fires in Novaya Ladoga had started several years ago; however, the causes and circumstances of the accidents are yet to be examined.

Alexander Bastrykin has instructed to immediately launch a pre-investigative probe upon the received information. The probe will be supervised by the Central Office of the Investigative Committee of Russia. Following that, procedural decisions will be made.

The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia noted that it is necessary to establish all circumstances and causes of the accident, the value of the material damage, the persons responsible for the preservation of these objects of cultural heritage and to study the reports coming from concerned citizens possessing information about the accidents. Objects of cultural heritage require special attention as they are a part of the national history and must be preserved for future generations.

Official spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of Russia S. Petrenko