Stephen the Great’s tablets, a set of inscribed stone slabs dated to the rule of the legendary Moldavian prince, have been found intact after they were feared stolen from the Kherson Museum during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Having learned this from the Ukrainian authorities, the Moldovan Ministry of Culture reiterated our country’s proposition to help evacuate cultural and historic heritage to safer environments.

“We are in permanent contact with Oleksandr Tkachenko, the Ukrainian Minister of Culture, and Lucian Romașcanu, the Romanian counterpart. There is no need to engage now in a competition, who will keep treasures better, because it is a war situation, where invaluable pieces of world heritage in Ukraine risk being irretrievably lost to shelling or being stolen and vandalized by the invaders”, Minister Sergiu Prodan was quoted in a press release.

Moldova is part of the Group of Ten, which met on June 29 in the Ukrainian city of Lviv to adopt a common position with the aim of countering Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, a war that threatens the cultural heritage of this country.

The ministers of culture of the 10 countries, including Romania and the Republic of Moldova, initiated the Declaration of Intent of the Ministries of Culture of the participating countries, a document that reiterates the united support for the preservation of Ukraine’s cultural heritage and its recognition as part of the cultural heritage of humanity.