The? State Hermitage Museum in? St. Petersburg may be left without police guards starting this fall as the? Interior Ministry is laying off officers amid funding cuts, the? director of? Russia's biggest art museum said.
The? Interior Ministry plans to? pull police guards from? Russia's museums starting in? November, Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky said in? an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station Tuesday, appealing to? the authorities to? reverse the? decision.
If the? police guards are gone, art thieves may still be deterred by? museums' own security systems and? services, he said. But unlike police officers, museum guards do not carry weapons, according to? Piotrovsky.
"The police are the? only organization that can take a? hooligan by? the scruff of? the neck and? throw them out into? the street, and who bear arms," Piotrovsky told Ekho Moskvy. "Other security organizations have substantially fewer rights."
The? full scope of? the expected cuts in? police presence remained unclear, as the? authorities have supposedly compiled a? "very short list of? cultural institutions" where police officers will continue to? be stationed, but there was no indication that the? Hermitage might be one of? them, Piotrovsky said, Ekho Moskvy reported.
"We received a? letter saying that starting on? Nov. 1, all the? police guards we have will be leaving the? Hermitage," he was quoted as saying.
"I have written several letters to? all the? ministers, asking them to tell me for certain whether this means that the? Hermitage will be left without police guards," Piotrovsky added. "So far they have not responded. So far there is an? announcement that they [the police guards] will be leaving."
The? Interior Ministry's payroll is to? be slashed by? 10 percent, or about 110,000 jobs, under an? order signed by? Russia's President Vladimir Putin last week.
The? cuts come amid the? economic downturn and? Western sanctions against Moscow over its meddling in? Ukraine, but the? ministry's ranks were shrinking even before the? current economic crisis.
In? 2009, then-President Dmitry Medvedev determined that the? police payroll was bloated and? ordered a? 20-percent personnel cut. Since then, staff numbers have shrunk from? 1.28 million to? 1.13 million.
Meanwhile, the? Union of? Russian Museums, of? which Piotrovsky is president, appealed to? member organizations earlier this week to? "urgently conduct exercises on? protecting the? work of? the exhibitions through our own forces."
The? call for? museum self-defense was prompted by? police plans to? remove its guards, and? also by? the vandalism of items on show at? a Manezh exhibition in? Moscow by? Orthodox activists last Friday, according to? the document signed by? Piotrovsky.
"Our society is ill," the? statement read.
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