MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. More than 1,700 people have provided financial support to Russian archeologist Alexander Butyagin, who was arrested in Poland at Ukraine's request, raising a total of almost 64,000 euros for lawyers to defend him, his relatives said on Telegram.

Butyagin was detained by Polish special services on December 4, 2025, while traveling from the Netherlands to the Balkans during his European lecture tour. A Warsaw court ruled to detain the archeologist, and the Polish Public Prosecutor's Office received an extradition request from Ukraine. According to Polish investigators, Butyagin could face up to ten years in prison in Ukraine. The archeologist's lawyer said that a court decision on the appointment of a new judge and a new trial date is expected. This should happen before February 2, the lawyer specified.

"Since the start of the fundraiser, 63,922 euros has been deposited into Alexander's personal account, opened by his lawyers, both directly and through aggregators. Another 270,000 rubles (almost 2,942 euros - TASS), transferred directly to the organizers of the fundraiser, are in Alexander's personal bank account in Russia and are being transferred in stages to his client account with his lawyers. This is already half of the required amount - the result of support from more than 1,700 people and, perhaps, a little New Year's miracle: the largest number of donations came during the holidays," the statement said.