MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The Polish prosecutor’s office has received an extradition request from Ukraine for Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who is wanted by Kiev and was arrested in Poland, the RMF radio station said.

According to the radio station, the relevant request has already been received by the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, which will assess its validity and then refer Butyagin’s extradition case to a court. The prosecutor's office is expected to ask the court to extend the man’s arrest, which expires on January 13.

Alexander Burtyagin, who heads the North Black Sea region sector at the Ancient World department of the world-famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and heads the museum’s Kerch expedition, was detained on December 4, en route from the Netherlands to the Balkans. According to the Polish media, he refused to make a statement to prosecutors. A court in Warsaw ruled to arrest him for a term of 40 days. According to the Polish prosecutor’s office, Butyagin could face up to ten years in prison.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russian embassy staff has visited Butyagin and "is in touch with his lawyer, who said he will appeal the court ruling on the temporary arrest."

In November 2024, Ukraine’s authorities brought charges in absentia against a Russian archaeologist for engaging in allegedly illegal excavations in Crimea. Although his name was not announced publicly, the Ukrainian media said that it was Butyagin.