The British trading house Sotheby’s has received a request to withdraw from an upcoming auction state orders of the former Soviet Union, a Sotheby’s spokesperson told ITAR-TASS.The auction will be held in London on November 28. About 2,000 Russian works of art and objects of culture will be put up for sale.

The spokesperson stressed that Sotheby’s never sold cultural and historical valuables without permission, and just for this reason the request of Russian state service for the protection of cultural heritage (Rosokhrankultura) would be examined on an urgent basis.

Russian authorities demanded removing 28 lots from the auction. They include orders of Kutuzov, Ushakov, Suvorov, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Combat.

All decorations have personal numbers allowing identifying their owners.

Starting prices of the Soviet orders vary from $2.000 to $130.000.

The Russian side does not object to sales of orders of Imperial Russia that will be broadly represented at the auction, including the chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First Called, the price of which is $428.000.

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