MOSCOW, June 28 (RAPSI) – Investigation into the theft of a painting by prominent Russian artist of Greek origin Arkhip Kuindzhi from the Tretyakov Gallery is completed, the Interior Ministry’s spokesperson Irina Volk announced Friday.
The indictment against defendant Denis Chuprikov has been approved; the case has been forwarded to Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court for hearing, she stated.
According to investigators, the work “Ai Petri” was stolen from Moscow's Tretyakov Art Gallery on January 27. The 31-year old Chuprikov was arrested in the Moscow Region on January 28. The work “Ai Petri” was also found and seized from a project under construction in the Moscow Region’s Odintsovo District.
Police claimed the man committed the crime from mercenary motives.
On January 29, Moscow’s Tagansky District Court put Chuprikov in detention. In February, he pleaded guilty.
Kuindzhi painted “Ai Petri. Crimea” depicting a mountain in the Crimea peninsula in 1908.
