An iconic Churchill photo stolen in Canada and found in Italy is ready to return

ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries on Thursday marked the successful recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion," stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.

At a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian carabinieri police handed over the portrait to the Canadian ambassador to Italy, Elissa Goldberg, who praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the recovery.

The 1941 portrait of the British leader taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh is now ready for the last step of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, the hotel in Ottawa where it was stolen and will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait.

Canadian police said the portrait was stolen from the hotel sometime between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a forgery. The swap was only uncovered months later, in August, when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different than the others.

Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, purchased the portrait in May 2022 at an online Sotheby’s auction for 5,292 British pounds. He says he got a phone call from the auction house that October advising him not to sell or otherwise transfer the portrait due to an investigation into the Ottawa theft.

Cassinelli, who attended Thursday’s ceremony, said he thought he was buying a regular print and quickly agreed to send the iconic Churchill photograph home when he learned its true story.

“I immediately decided to return it to the Chateau Laurier, because I think that if Karsh donated it to the hotel, it means he really wanted it to stay there, for the particular significance this hotel had for him, and for his wife too,” Cassinelli told The Associated Press.

The famous image was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. It helped launch Karsh’s career, who photographed some of the 20th century’s most famed icons, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth.

Karsh and his wife Estrellita gifted an original signed print to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple had lived and operated a studio inside the hotel for nearly two decades.

Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said on Thursday she felt immensely grateful.

“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to everybody involved in solving this case, and ensuring the safe return of this priceless piece of history.”

Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and have charged him with stealing and trafficking the portrait. The man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, faces charges that include forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000.

Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Isabelle Mondou, left, and Andrea Clark-Grignon, Head of Public Affairs, unveil a photographic portrait known as 'The Roaring Lion', taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941 of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stolen in Canada in 2022, and returned during a ceremony at the Canada's embassy in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

From left, Nicola Cassinelli, an Italian lawyer and occasional art collector, Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Isabelle Mondou and Ambassador of Canada to Italy, Elissa Golberg, pose next to of a photographic portrait known as 'The Roaring Lion', taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941 of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stolen in Canada in 2022 and returned during a ceremony at the Canada's embassy in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Isabelle Mondou, left, and Andrea Clark-Grignon, Head of Public Affairs, unveil a photographic portrait known as 'The Roaring Lion', taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941 of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stolen in Canada in 2022, and returned during a ceremony at the Canada's embassy in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen is traveling to war-ravaged Ukraine on Friday with the promise of 160 million euros ($180 million) in fresh energy funds to get the nation through the winter.

Von der Leyen told reporters that 100 million euros ($112 million) of the funds would come the proceeds of the Russian assets held in the EU because of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “It is only right that Russia pays for the destruction it caused,” she said.

The European Union estimates that about half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed, making the job of heating homes, hospitals and schools increasingly difficult as temperatures dip ahead of the third war winter that the nation will face.

Von der Leyen said Russia knew full well that bombing energy stations was hitting Ukraine where it really hurts. Morale to keep on fighting can be significantly sapped if millions shiver in the brutal winter for months on end.

“We may see huge implications,” said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency. “People will look to move around, to go to the places where they can have shelter and heating."

That makes international help all the more necessary, said von der Leyen.

“As Ukraine’s friends and partners, we must do all we can to keep the lights on. And as winter is approaching, well, we must keep the brave people of Ukraine warm, while we also are keeping the economy running,” she said.

Many of the upcoming efforts will go into repairing the damage done. Lithuania, for example, is dismantling a thermal power plant to ship it piece by piece to Ukraine for rebuilding there. With continued electricity exports from EU countries, von der Leyen said it would cover about a quarter of the nation's energy need in the coming months.

The EU is trying to decentralize energy production through the use of solar panels and other new technologies in Ukraine to make it more difficult for Russian attacks to have a direct impact on the energy grid. It would also help Ukraine become a greener economy, she said.

Overall, the EU estimates that it has provided Ukraine with at least 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion) in energy support since the February 2022 invasion. Von der Leyen said she will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss energy issues on Friday.

Find more coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc, during a press conference at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presents her new team for her next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc, during a press conference at the European Parliament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Strasbourg. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)