'Operation Pushkin': six Georgians tried in Paris for theft of rare Russian books
Six Georgian nationals are appearing before French justice accused of having stolen valuable Russian literary works from French and European libraries.
'Operation Pushkin': six Georgians tried in Paris for theft of rare Russian books
Six Georgian citizens appeared on Tuesday before a Paris court, accused of having stolen rare editions of Russian literary classics from renowned French libraries, notably works by Alexander Pushkin. This trial constitutes the final judicial episode of a series of similar thefts committed in recent years in European libraries, behind which an organised network is apparently operating.
The works targeted by the perpetrators were rare Russian classics, with a total value of several million euros. Among them were volumes by great nineteenth-century authors, such as Pushkin, father of "Eugene Onegin", and Nikolai Gogol, the immortal creator of "Dead Souls". In total, nearly 170 rare Russian volumes are believed to have disappeared across around ten European countries.
The defendants appearing in France are being prosecuted for participation in a criminal association and attempted theft. Some of them face additional prosecution for theft of exposed cultural property. They risk up to ten years' imprisonment.
Initially, seven people were to be tried, but a woman will face a separate trial on 2 December 2026 for procedural reasons. Among the six remaining defendants, two will be tried in absentia, with an arrest warrant having been issued against them.
Two other defendants, identified as Mikheil Z. and Beqa T., have already been convicted and imprisoned in other countries for similar offences, before being temporarily handed over to French authorities. Mikheil Z., 50 years old, was convicted last year in Lithuania to three years and four months' imprisonment for the organised theft of nineteenth-century editions, valued at 606,000 euros. Beqa T., 49 years old, received three years and six months' imprisonment in Estonia.
According to investigation files consulted by AFP, French investigating judges suspect the defendants of belonging to an organised criminal network. The thefts affected Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, leading to the creation of a joint investigation team under the aegis of Europol and Eurojust. This cooperation resulted in several arrests in 2024.
In France, the facts took place in 2023 at the Diderot library of the École normale supérieure in Lyon, at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and at the University Library of Languages and Civilisations (BULAC) in Paris. Investigators believe that the thieves would visit these establishments to study, photograph and measure rare and precious works, before later replacing them with quasi-indistinguishable copies.
Between March and October 2023, Mikheil Z. presented himself forty times at the BnF to consult mainly Pushkin manuscripts, claiming research on democracy in nineteenth-century Russian literature. The library discovered in November that nine volumes had been substituted with counterfeits, the damage being valued at 650,000 euros. Eight works concerned Pushkin and one other Mikhail Lermontov, two major figures of Russian Romanticism.
During his questioning, Mikheil Z. admitted to having stolen the volumes, but denied any collaboration with the other defendants. He claimed to have acted alone for financial profit, reselling the books in Russia to someone named "Maxim". In June 2024, a second edition of Pushkin's "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", corresponding to the copy stolen from the BnF, appeared in the catalogue of the Russian auction house Litfond. The establishment nevertheless stated to French authorities that it held documents attesting that the work had been acquired in 2014 or 2015 from its Russian owner.
In the view of the investigating magistrates, these thefts could be linked to a desire to repatriate Russian cultural heritage, in a context of growing tensions between Russia and Europe following the invasion of Ukraine. None of the stolen works have been found to date. However, Alexandre de Konn, legal representative of the BnF, stated that the institution "has not abandoned hope of recovering them".
Source: Google News HU — Crime (hu)