26.12.2025, Warsaw.
The Ukrainian authorities submitted a request for the extradition of Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who is currently under arrest in Warsaw, RMF FM reported on December 23.
According to the radio station, the request has already been sent to the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office. Investigators will examine it from a formal standpoint and assess its compliance with the European Convention on Extradition. It will also be checked whether there are any obstacles to extradition, such as judicial proceedings being conducted in Poland or an application by the detainee for asylum.
The Polish prosecutor’s office will formulate its position and, together with the Ukrainian request, forward it to the court. It is noted that a request to extend the period of temporary arrest, which expires on January 13, is likely. The final decision on extradition is made by the court.
Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, a member of the Academic Council of the Hermitage Museum, was detained in Warsaw on December 4. The detention took place at a hotel where he was staying while traveling from Amsterdam to Belgrade. The detention was carried out by officers of Poland’s Internal Security Agency at the request of the Kiev regime, which accuses the scholar of allegedly conducting illegal archaeological excavations on the territory of the archaeological complex “Ancient City of Mirmekion” in Kerch.
After an interrogation during which Butyagin refused to testify, the Warsaw court authorized his detention in custody until January 13, 2026, in a pre-trial detention center, pending a formal extradition request from Ukraine.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
