Ukraine seeks extradition from Poland of Russian scientist involved in excavations in Crimea

Ukraine has submitted a request for Poland to extradite a detained Russian archaeologist, Alexander B., in connection with illegal excavations in occupied Crimea.

Source: RMF24, citing its sources; European Pravda

Details: Journalists learned that Ukraine has submitted an extradition request for Alexander B. to the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.

In Poland, the authorities will first assess whether the request formally complies with all requirements, after which they will examine whether there are grounds to deny the extradition request.

Following this, the prosecutor's office will formulate its position on the matter and submit it to the court together with the Ukrainian request.

It is likely that, at the same time, a motion will be filed with the court to extend the suspect's detention, as the current term expires on 13 January. The final decision on extradition will be made by the court.

Background:

• At the beginning of December, it became known that a Russian scientist wanted by Ukraine for conducting illegal archaeological excavations in occupied Crimea had been detained. He was taken into custody at a hotel in Warsaw during a lecture tour of Europe.
• Most likely, this concerns Alexander Butyagin, whom the Security Service of Ukraine served with a notice of suspicion in absentia in November 2024.
• The Kremlin called the detention "arbitrary" and said it would work towards securing the archaeologist's release.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!