Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that no agreements have been reached regarding a potential visit by US President Donald Trump to Russia, including a tour of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Trump had previously expressed admiration for the museum.
A 45-year-old visitor to the Hermitage Museum was sent for a medical examination after sitting on the Imperial Throne, reacting aggressively to a staff member, and resisting Rosgvardia officers. He was found with a knife hidden in his shoe and was reciting text while on the throne.
Mikhail Piotrovsky also expressed surprise at "the absolute lack of nobleness in the actions of Polish law enforcement agencies"
The director of the State Hermitage Museum says the detention of Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin in Poland, where he could face extradition to Ukraine, is part of a broader political campaign that has included sanctions against prominent Russian scholars and heads of leading archaeological institutions. Mikhail Piotrovsky stated that archaeologists and museum staff are becoming targets of what he called a system of kidnappings, hostage-taking, manipulation, blackmail, and lies that has replaced standard legal procedures.
