These are real commandos: video of the Louvre robbery has surfaced online (6 photos + 2 videos)
A robber in a yellow vest calmly opens a display case containing valuable artifacts. 
Yesterday, the Louvre was robbed in Paris. The criminals pulled off this daring operation in just seven minutes. The robbers entered the Louvre during the museum's opening this morning from the Seine embankment, where construction work was underway. 
Thanks to a boom lift, they were able to immediately enter a room in the Apollo Gallery. Two men broke windows with a grinder and entered the building, while another remained downstairs to wait for them. 
Video of the robbery surfaced on social media; it was published by the French television channel BFMTV on October 19. The footage shows one of the thieves, wearing a Louvre employee vest, ripping open a display case, while the few visitors ignore him.
As a reminder, the incident occurred immediately after the Louvre opened, and the building was sparsely populated.
The robbers then took the jewelry and fled on two T-Max scooters. They headed toward the A6 motorway.
The robbery lasted only seven minutes, according to French Interior Minister Nunez, but Culture Minister Rachida Dati claims the entire operation lasted no more than four minutes. She laments that museum security in France is a long-standing problem that has been neglected for 40 years.
GADCOLLECTION gallery owner Gad Edery called the criminals "real commandos." He believes they were professionals who knew how to get into the museum, what and where to take, and how to quickly disappear.
Gad Edery noted that it's highly unlikely the stolen treasures will be found on the black market because the risk for the robbers is enormous—the stolen jewelry is too conspicuous.
"These items are so recognizable, it's too dangerous. They can't be resold. When it comes to resale, no one wants to deal with an object so sought-after and recognizable," the gallery owner noted.
According to one theory, the robbery was a contract robbery targeting a specific collector, who will stash the valuables in his secret vault. However, collector and co-founder of the Moscow Auction House, Sergei Podstanitsky, is confident that the criminals were amateurs and were acting for ransom.
All these museum pieces are insured, so the robbers call the insurance company and say, "We're ready to destroy all of this, but if you pay us at least half the insured amount..." And then they're accidentally found in a trash heap. "All these robberies end the same way—they're all found," he told the radio station "Moscow Speaks."
The robbers are known to have made off with nine rare pieces of jewelry belonging to Napoleon and the Empress. These include a necklace and earrings from the emerald and diamond set of Empress Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon I; a tiara and sapphire necklace that belonged to Napoleon's stepdaughter Hortense de Beauharnais (later Queen Marie Amalia, wife of King Louis-Philippe); and a tiara and corsage brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of his nephew Napoleon III.
Surprisingly, the thieves abandoned one of the stolen items near the museum – the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. It was found broken and will be restored, after which it will be returned to the Louvre gallery.
The Crown of Empress Eugénie
Also, for some reason, the criminals did not steal the largest diamond in the collection, the famous "Regent," weighing over 140 carats.
Ariel Weill, the mayor of central Paris, was dismayed to learn of the incident. "It's hard to imagine that it would be so easy to rob the Louvre," he said. French President Emmanuel Macron said the police would definitely find the perpetrators.
