Thousands of drawings vanish in latest Russian art heist

Drawings by an avant-garde Russian artist said to be worth millions of dollars have vanished from the state literature and arts archives, the national heritage preservation agency said.

Their disappearance follows the recent revelation of the theft of 221 objects worth an estimated US$5 million (Bt190 million) - much more according to some experts - from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Two people, the husband and son of a curator, have been detained in connection with the thefts.

According to the ITAR-TASS news agency, about 2,000 drawings by Yakov Chernikhov are missing from the archives.

าThe exact number of drawings has not been determined. The inspection is continuing,ำ the Interfax agency quoted archive official Yevgeny Strelchik as saying.

าAccording to preliminary information, the value of the stolen objects is several million dollars,ำ he said, giving no basis for his calculation.

He said 274 drawings had been located with antiques dealers and were due to be returned to the archives.

Nine more were due to have been sold by the London auction house Christieีs on July 22, but descendants of Chernikhov managed to have the sale cancelled when they proved they came from the national archives.

Chernikhov (1889-1951) was a Ukrainian-born artist, architect, theorist, designer and teacher.

Senior Russian officials this week lamented failings in the preservation of the countryีs cultural heritage in national museums.

They pointed to a rate of between 50 and 100 thefts a year.

While the countryีs museums hold 50 million objects, only 12.5 million are properly inventoried, said Mikhail Shvydkoi, head of the national cultural agency.