by Olesya Orlenko
| Why would Russia get involved in such a thing? |
The stolen priceless items were part of a collection begun by the French King Francis I (1494–1547). It was continually expanded with jewelry and ornaments belonging to monarchs and their families.
Today, some items from this unique collection are housed in various museums, such as the Mineralogical Museum and the Natural History Museum. However, the main collection is housed and exhibited at the Louvre Museum.
According to investigators, on the morning of October 19, between 9:30 and 9:37 a.m., four thieves approached the museum on scooters, used sliding ladders to get into the room they needed, used small electric saws to smash open display cases, committed the theft, left the room, and also fled on scooters.
The alarm worked properly, and the officers arrived quickly. However, the criminals acted even faster.
In total, the thieves stole nine items, but got rid of two of them while escaping. Specifically, they discarded the crown of Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.
After the fall of the Second Empire, this jewel was returned to the wife of the former emperor in 1873. And her descendants donated the crown to the Louvre Museum in 1988. Although the crown was damaged at the hands of criminals, it can be restored to its original appearance.
It must be said that the exhibits stored in the Louvre often became objects of desire for thieves.
In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the museum. The thief, a former museum employee named Vincenzo Peruggia, was able to easily change into his uniform and remove the painting from the wall. The famous painting was only recovered in 1913 during an attempt to sell it to collectors.
In 1939, in broad daylight, Antoine Watteau's painting "The Indifferent" was also removed from the wall and found a few days later.
Camille Corot's painting, however, was less fortunate. On May 3, 1988, the landscape "Road to Sèvres," depicting the outskirts of a Parisian suburb, was removed under similar circumstances. The theft was immediately discovered, the museum's exits were blocked, and visitors were held inside the building for several hours, released in small groups after a search.
The Anti-Banditry Team of the Central Bureau for Combating the Trafficking of Cultural Property has opened an investigation. However, neither the painting's fate nor the identity of the thief remains known. The same agency is also investigating the theft that occurred on October 19, 2025.
The Royal Treasury has long attracted the attention of thieves of all stripes.
A significant portion of the jewels were stolen back in 1792. Some were later recovered. Among those saved was the famous "Regent Diamond," the largest diamond in the world; it remains in the Louvre. However, a third of the stolen items have yet to be recovered.
In 1887, the authorities of the Third Republic staged a mass sale of the "Treasury" precious stones. For this purpose, the stones were removed from jewelry, significantly reducing their value. Consequently, the proceeds were far less than expected.
The state subsequently realized the scale of the error. And over the past 100 years, France has been trying to restore the collection's richness by buying back previously sold items and acquiring new exhibits.
In this regard, the latest theft of jewelry is perceived by museum workers, officials and the public as particularly painful.
However, it became an opportunity to raise a number of pressing issues related to the problems of the work of French museums.
Geoffroy Caillé, editor-in-chief of the history section of Figaro, believes the Louvre heist was the result of a confluence of circumstances and a series of coincidences. However, other media outlets cite experts who believe the crime was meticulously planned and prepared.
Louvre employees, united in the SUD-Culture trade union, issued a statement saying they had repeatedly warned about security problems in the museum's halls.
According to activists, the union has repeatedly "condemned internal decisions made over the past three years that fail to take into account the core mission of our institution: preserving the heritage, the building, the collections, and the people. (…) The management's culpability [in what happened] is enormous. The President of the Republic and the Minister of Culture should have heeded the warnings voiced by employees long ago."
Ivan Navarro, co-president of VKT-Kultura, another union represented at the museum, also said that the Louvre's staff is being steadily reduced due to cost savings.
According to him, over the past 10 years, the security staff has been reduced by a quarter. By 2025, the budget allocated for all national heritage sites in the country had reached a catastrophically low 1.2 billion euros. And in 2026, it will be cut by another 200,000.
Underfunding of museums leads to security problems: the Louvre robbery is the most high-profile, but not the only, theft at a French museum in recent times.
On the night of September 15-16, gold worth an estimated €600,000 was stolen from the Natural History Museum. Earlier, on September 4, the Ministry of Culture reported the theft of exhibits from the Adrien Dubouché Museum in Limoges.
Investigators are developing several theories regarding the theft at the Louvre.
However, prosecutor Laure Becquault said that it was entirely possible that this and previous robberies could also be seen as "foreign interference."
Given that the French authorities have recently become accustomed to blaming Russia for their domestic problems—growing public discontent, rising ethnic strife, etc.—it would not be surprising if the investigation "suddenly" turns to the "Russian trail."