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Moscow didn’t know Russian national Franchetti was put on wanted list — source

According to Czech police sources, on Sunday, Russian citizen Alexander Franchetti was detained at Prague’s international airport because he was apprehended on an international arrest warrant issued by Ukraine

MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Russian law enforcement agencies were not aware that Russian citizen Alexander Franchetti, who was detained at Prague airport by Ukraine’s request, was put on the international wanted list, a source told TASS on Tuesday.

"Franchetti left Russia without any problems because law enforcement agencies did not know that he was wanted internationally. Otherwise, there would be some questions that he would need to answer when going through the border control," the source said.

On Sunday, the Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic said that Franchetti had been detained at Prague’s international airport. According to local police sources, he was apprehended on an international arrest warrant issued by Ukraine. Media reports said that the Russian’s detention could be linked to his active participation in the 2014 events around Crimea’s reunification with Russia. The Russian Investigative Committee is now studying the legal grounds for his detention together with the Foreign Ministry. Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko that relevant appeals had been sent to the Czech Republic to get more details.