Kamiana Mohyla (“Stone Tomb”) is a unique archeological site and monument of the history of ancient art and religion. The central complex consists of an 11-meter shell-shaped sandstone hill, which preserves the entrances to the caves and grottoes. According to scientists, about 64 locations with images from different eras were found here (Tables 1, 2). In the 1960s, Kamiana Mohyla was granted the status of a monument of local significance (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR No. 711 "On approval of the list of monuments of art, history and archeology of the Ukrainian SSR") (protection No. 33). The Kamiana Mohyla Historical and Archaeological Preserve is designated as the user. The main scientific theme of the museum exposition is the reflection of the stages of the history of the development of art. The first fund collection was formed by the staff of the Institute of Science of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, among whom it is worthwhile to mention such famous scientists as O. Bader, M. Ya. Rudynskyi, V. Gladilin, and V. Danilenko (Bader, 1949; Rudynskyi 1961; Hladilin , 1964; Mikhaylov, 1994).

After obtaining the national status (Decree No. 1761 dated 27.12.2001 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On the entry of monuments of history, monumental art and archeology of national importance into the state register of immovable monuments of Ukraine”), items from various archaeological studies gradually entered the funds (Table .4.1). Since 2006, the Kamiana Mohyla archaeological complex has been on the Tentative List of UNESCO's World Heritage and claims the right to inscribe the object on the main UNESCO World Heritage List.

The finds on Kamiana Mohyla hill are characterized by the prevalence of various items made from local sandstone. A separate vivid group of finds falls under the term “specimens of mobile art, which include the so-called churingas. According to the archaeological guide, it is a stone or wooden item in the shape of an oval or a fish, covered with geometric compositions or images of people, animals, birds (Dictionary-Handbook on Archeology, 1996, p. 304). Its name comes from the name of the object arunta (churinga in English), which is used by Australian natives during magical rites as a sophisticated musical instrument (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tjurunga).

According to V. Danilenko's publications, in the 1973 season alone, during the excavations on Kamiana Mohyla hill in the Sorcerer’s grottoes, about 80 such carefully processed “churinga tiles” were found, similar to each other (Danilenko, 1986, pp. 94–129). The author emphasizes the complex, finely drawn ornament on the sides of the items (Table 3).

Churinga No. 462 was found by B. Mikhaylov in the Bison’s cave in 1985. According to Rudynskyi and Mikhaylov, this is map square f4, the location is under No. 36 (the so-called Bison’s cave) (Table 2). The collection number of the tile is KO-3/31. According to B. Mikhaylov's description, the item is “oval and almond-shaped, conveying the shape of a fish. The face has a mouth with two horizontal short grooves (1.8–2 cm), and in the upper part, there are fins that extend to the opposite side” (Table 4). The entire surface is carefully smoothed. General parameters are as follows: length — 20.5 cm; width — 7 cm; height — 3 cm. A long deep groove runs through the central part of one of the sides (Simon Radchenko, 2022, Figure 13, 2).

On October 14, 2022, a video was published where masked military personnel with weapons enter the territory of the Kamiana Mohyla National Preserve. The authors of this text believe that these were local police officers posing against the background of the hill with the permission of the museum administration (https://ria-m.tv/news/301055/v_melitopole_predateli_politsai_voorujivshis_do_zubov_v_bronejiletah_vyishli_na_ekskursiyu_(video).html)

During the formation of the occupying authorities, on May 9, 2022, Yevhen Balytskyi (former member of the regional parliament from the Party of Regions) became acting “governor” of Melitopol district (https://uk.wikipedia.org/).

On March 14, 2023, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted the federal law "On the peculiarities of the legal regulation of relations in the field of culture in connection with the admission to the Russian Federation of the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, the Zaporozhye Region and the Kherson Region and the formation of new entities in the Russian Federation – Donetsk People's Republic Republics, Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye Region and Kherson Region" (from March 18, 2023, No. 63-FZ). According to this law, all objects of cultural heritage that were in the registers of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions at the time of the State Duma's decision on the inclusion of the “DPR,” “LPR,” Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions into the federation, as well as newly discovered objects on their territory, are automatically recognized as cultural heritage of the Russian Federation without state expertise (Federal Law dated March 18, 2023 No. 63-F3 http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202303180002).

This made it possible to lay a precedent for the unification of the Chersonesos Historical and Archaeological Museum-Preserve and Kamiana Mohyla. According to Russian sources, this was initiated by Putin at a meeting with historians and representatives of “traditional religions of Russia.” This process is managed by Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia (https://ria-m.tv/news/309514/rashistyi_prisvoili_arheologicheskiy_kompleks_kamennaya_mogila.html). The first reports about it in the Telegram social network and websites are dated October 5, 2022 (https://ria-m.tv/news/303013/putin_lichno_reshil_zabrat_muzey_kamennaya_mogila_pod_melitopolem_v_sobstvennost_rossii.html).

On the website of the President of the Russian Federation, among the list of orders, there is the order Pr-2372, which is addressed to the State Duma and orders to consider the issue of creating a branch of the Kamiana Mohyla museum on the basis of the Chersonese Historical and Archaeological Museum-Preserve. The person in charge of the task is M. Mishustin, Head of the Government of Russia. The deadline for implementation is May 15, 2023 (http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/assignments/orders/70073).

A lengthy text dated January 24, 2023 on the website of the Tauric Chersonese State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Preserve refers to this order on the establishment of the branch (Pr-2372 dated December 11, 2022). The date of the assignment and the persons responsible for preparation are indicated on the website of the Tauric Chersonese State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Preserve. Among them are director Ye. Morozova and “Minister of Culture of Zaporozhye Region” Yu. Kovanov (website of the Tauric Chersonese State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Preserve).

As per Russian sources, Yuriy Kovanov, a representative of the occupied administration and the “Minister of Culture” of Zaporizhzhia Region, visited Crimea before it in January 2023. Together with Ye. Morozova, Director of the Chersonese Historical and Archaeological Museum-Preserve, and Igor Mikheyev, the so-called Deputy Governor of the city of Sevastopol (https://politika.sevastopol.su/dossier/miheev-igor-anatolevich/), he recorded a video on local television on January 25, 2023 (NTS Channel – Independent Television of Sevastopol, “Kamennaya Mogila preserve near Melitopol to become part of Tauric Chersonesos Museum,”https://t.me/mikheevia/1052).

During February, the exhibits of the main and auxiliary fund of the Kamiana Mohyla National Museum were displaced. On the local website and the VKontakte social network, there is an interview dated February 20, 2023, where Sergey Danchenko, a “specialist” of the “Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Zaporozhye Region,” says that the main fund – more than 500 items – and the research and auxiliary fund – more than 600 items – were prepared for transfer to the city of Sevastopol (https://melitopol-news.ru/other/2023/02/20/25796.html). He expressed confidence that the professional qualities of the employees in Crimea would help “… to revive Kamiana Mohyla…”

According to online publications, in the city of Sevastopol on May 20, 2023, 120 exhibits were exhibited under the title "Spiritual world of ancestors in the petroglyphs of the Stone Tomb" (https://www.unn.com.ua/ru/news/2028923-u-sevastopoli-vistavili-eksponati-vkradeni-z-muzeyu-kamyana-mogila-pid-melitopolem). In the video and individual photos, only part of the exhibits are clearly visible (Polovtsian stele, pot with an ornament, sandstone samples with algae prints, a mammoth tooth). However, we still do not know all the information about these objects.

New photos and videos from the Internet show a display case with objects of mobile art from the main collection of the Kamiana Mohyla National Museum. Thanks to Simon Radchenko, we have established that the one that is located in the center among the exhibits is churinga No. 462.

According to the latest video statement from June 5, 2023, “… in connection with the threat…” the curator of the exhibition of the Tauric Chersonese National Preserve, Pavel Khlebovskiy, was planning to leave the finds in the city of Sevastopol (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uzppJS3s0w&ab_channel=%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8F%5C%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B2).

Currently, exhibitions in the exposition of the Kamiana Mohyla museum are held near copies of the items (Table 4,2)