MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Polish ambassador to Moscow Krzysztof Krajewski was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where a protest was lodged against the detention of Russian archeologist Alexander Butyagin, the ministry said in a statement.

"On January 12, Polish ambassador to Moscow Krzysztof Krajewski was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. He was strongly protested against the December 2025 detention in Warsaw of renowned Russian archeologist Alexander Butyagin at Kiev’s request," the Russian diplomats noted.

According to the ministry, the Russian side reiterated to the Polish ambassador that "the accusations of the Kiev regime are absurd and due to Butyagin’s scientific activities within the framework of the Myrmekion archeological expedition in Russia’s inalienable region of Crimea."

"The openly politicized and speculative character of the Russian scientist’s persecution by Ukraine is proven by the fact that the Ukrainian arrest warrant was not implemented through Interpol, as Butyagin freely visited several European states before his detention in Warsaw," the statement noted.

"The Foreign Ministry emphasized that Russia demands that its citizen be immediately released and asks Poland to refuse to hand him over to the punitive machine of the Kiev regime, which has nothing to do with justice," the diplomats concluded.