The State Hermitage Museum has canceled all archaeological expeditions in Crimea, historian and archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who leads the Myrmekion archaeological expedition in Kerch, told the local outlet Rotonda.
Several days ago, the expedition's group announced it was moving its work to another region 'due to the deteriorating situation.' Volunteers are now being invited to excavations in the Kuban region, which organizers said is easier to reach.
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, at least two Russian scientific expeditions in the Leninsky District are planning to cancel excavations in Crimea due to the 'unstable situation.'
Butyagin's Myrmekion expedition had been working in Kerch since 1999. It continued excavations after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Because of this, Ukrainian authorities opened criminal cases against Russian archaeologists working on the peninsula.
In December, Butyagin was detained in Poland at Kyiv's request. He spent five months in a pre-trial detention center and returned to Russia at the end of April as part of a prisoner exchange. After returning, he said he did not intend to stop traveling to Crimea.
Over the past month, Crimean authorities have reported an acute shortage of gasoline due to Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries and fuel tankers. Cities on the annexed peninsula have experienced public transport disruptions; Sevastopol introduced temporary power outage schedules and faced water supply problems. Since June 22, children's summer camps on the peninsula have been closed, and last week a state of emergency was declared in Crimea and Sevastopol.