Potemkin’s remains stolen ‘for protection’

Russian forces have stolen the body of 18th-century prince Grigory Potemkin from its grave in Kherson, claiming they are “protecting” the remains of one of their national heroes.

A special team was sent to the majestic St Catherine’s Cathedral to remove the bones of Potemkin, the long-term lover of Catherine the Great who persuaded her to annex Crimea in 1783.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in

February he referenced Potemkin: it was Potemkin who led the colonisation of southern Ukraine, founding Kherson and Odesa as he pushed the frontiers of Russia’s empire west to the Black Sea.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russiaappointed head of Kherson region, said the body of the Prince had been disinterred for its own safety.

Potemkin’s remains were kept in a small black bag in his coffin, with the bones carefully numbered.

Footage from Kherson over the weekend showed several statues missing from their plinths in the city centre, including a monument to Potemkin erected in 2003.

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore said Potemkin would have “loathed Putin’s primitive, cruel nationalism”.

“I predict a plangent imperial TV extravaganza when Putin will bury Potemkin in a flashy new Moscow tomb and promote his war,” he wrote on Twitter.