Georgians on trial in Paris for stealing rare Russian literary editions

The case is the latest in a string of similar thefts across Europe in recent years, with the suspects believed to belong to an "organized criminal network," according to parts of the investigation seen by AFP.

Between April 2022 and November 2023, around 170 volumes were stolen from various libraries across Europe. In many cases, they were replaced with hard-to-detect fakes, according to The Economist.

The Russian works stolen in Paris are worth millions of kronor and include works by, among others, Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol.