MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The current situation involving archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who was detained in Poland at Ukraine’s request, is yet another example of the nature of the Kiev regime Russia is dealing with, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Council for Culture.

"What is happening to him now once again shows who we are dealing with," the head of state said.

Butyagin had been conducting excavations in Crimea since Soviet times and always coordinated his work with the authorities, including those in Kiev when the peninsula was part of Ukraine, the president noted. "He was doing this, as far as I know, during the Soviet era and when Crimea was part of Ukraine. He continued this work recently as well, without changing anything, always acting in accordance with agreements with the authorities," the president said.