Poland hands over archaeologist Butyagin to Russia despite Ukraine's extradition request

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said that Poland has returned Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin to Russia as part of a prisoner swap. Ukraine had requested Butyagin's extradition for his part in carrying out excavations in occupied Crimea.

Source: Polish media outlet Rzeczpospolita, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Asked whom Poland had released as part of the prisoner exchange, Sikorski mentioned Butyagin, who had been due to be extradited to Ukraine.

"One of those we exchanged is a Russian historian who had been in the process of extradition to Ukraine," he said.

The Russian news agency Interfax has reported that Butyagin is returning to Russia, citing confirmation from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Also included in the exchange was the wife of a Russian serviceman from Transnistria. They were reportedly exchanged for Moldovan citizens.

Background:

• In March, a court in Poland approved the extradition of Butyagin at Ukraine's request. He lodged an appeal.
• It was recently reported that Andrzej Poczobut, an activist from the Polish community in Belarus who had spent many years in prison on trumped-up charges, has returned to Poland. The prisoner swap was brokered by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

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