MOSCOW — The United States has returned nearly 30 documents from the 18th and 19th centuries to the Russian government.
During a Thursday ceremony at the ambassador’s residence in Moscow, a branch of the US Homeland Security Department repatriated 28 documents ranging from imperial decrees to architectural drawings that were stolen and recently recovered in the United States.
The materials were stolen from Russian state archives and vary in value. One recovered document, a decree issued by Russian Emperor Peter the Great, was found in the possession of an individual from Reno, Nevada, and is valued at $12,000, according to Jason Cassidy, a Homeland Security official familiar with the case.
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Homeland Security also returned an order signed by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and sketches from the Russian architect Yakov Chernikhov.
‘‘I think the good news here today is that the United States was able to catch the burglars and we’re able to get the documents and bring them back home. We’re bringing them to where they should be,’’ US Ambassador John Tefft said.
The United States has repatriated hundreds of documents and historical artifacts to Russia since cooperation between the two countries in the field of recovering stolen cultural items began in 2007.
‘‘History belongs to the people and the documents should be located in their country of origin,’’ said Aleksandra Arakelova, Russia’s National Archive director.