US to Return 28 Valuable Historic Documents Stolen From Russia on March 3

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United States will repatriate 28 highly valued historic documents stolen from Russian archives in the early 1990s next week, an official spokesman of the US Embassy in Moscow told Russia’s Kommersant daily on Friday.

The documents stolen from the Russian State Historical Archive, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art and the Russian State Military Archive are scheduled to be returned by US Ambassador John Tefft at his residence on March 3, according to the publication.

The 28 artifacts reportedly date back to the 18th to 20th centuries.

These include 10 authentic imperial orders of the 1703-1894 court departments, including edicts signed by emperors and empresses Peter the Great, Anna Ioannovna, Elizaveta Petrovna and Paul I.

One of the documents includes Joseph Stalin’s March 14, 1944, order to transform an aviation regiment into a separate fleet, deemed highly valuable by the Russian State Military Archive.

A third batch of returned artifacts includes 17 illustrations from early 20th-century Russian architect and graphic designer Yakov Chernikhov’s personal archives. The majority of the images stolen from the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art are architectural projects used in the construction of industrial buildings and railways.

The 28 documents were reportedly discovered by the US Department of Homeland Security in its 2006-2012 investigations. According to Kommersant, Washington has repatriated over 150 valuable historical documents smuggled from Russia since 2007.