SICK Russian soldiers stole human remains from a sacred crypt in southern Ukraine.
They took the bones of legendary Prince Grigory Potemkin days before fleeing the prized city of Kherson.
The tomb and crypt of Prince Grigory Potemkin in the city of Kherson was raided by Russian invaders – The Sun’s Jerome Starkey pictured at the royal’s coffin[/caption]
Vladimir Putin invoked Potemkin to justify his war as a bid to reclaim Russia’s glorious past[/caption]
Armed agents burst into St Catherine’s Cathedral and ordered priests to give them the coffin.
Russian Potemkin helped conquer Crimea and a swathe of Ukraine in the late 1700s.
President Vladimir Putin invoked him to justify his war as a bid to reclaim his nation’s glorious past.
Priest Father Illia, 39, told The Sun: “There was nothing we could do.”
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Defence Editor Jerome was allowed to access the vault via a trapdoor surrounded by candles.
Steps led down to a warm, domed chamber where Potemkin’s bones had been kept in a small black bag inside the coffin on top of a stone plinth.
Fr Illia accused the grave robbers of “stealing history”, adding: “These people want to resurrect the past”.
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