The icons are being returned at the request of the Russian Ministry of Culture, which seeks all Russian icons over 100 years be given a temporary export status and returned to Russia on a predetermined date for inspection.
"The Museum of Russian Icons is prepared to send the 16 icons back to Russia for inspection. They have been appropriately packaged and are ready for transport," Russell said on Friday.
According to Russell, the museum failed to return the icons on the agreed date of November 15, 2015 because of a miscommunication with Moscow following the resignation of a museum official.
The rare icons in question were legally purchased in 2010 by museum founder Gordon Lankton and were brought to the United States as part of a temporary exhibit, Russell added.
To date, more than 130,000 visitors in Massachusetts and Virginia have viewed the icons over the past five years.
The museum is hopeful the icons will be returned to the United States for display after they are inspected.
US museum prepared to return over a dozen rare Russian icons to Moscow
04 June 2016
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The US based Museum of Russian Icons is prepared to return dozens of rare icons to Moscow at the request of the Russian government, museum curator and CEO Kent Russell told, AzVision.az reports citing Sputnik.
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