MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. The Court of Appeal in Warsaw has dismissed the appeal of Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin's lawyer against the trial court's decision to detain the scientist until March 4.

"The court ruled to uphold the decision to detain suspected Russian citizen Alexander Butyagin from January 13, 2026, until March 4, 2026," judge Marzanna Anna Piekarska-Drazek announced.

She explained that the defense failed to present sufficient arguments to demonstrate that changing the pretrial detention measure would not pose a high risk of escape.

"Considering all the above arguments, the Court of Appeal upheld the appealed decision [of the District Court in Warsaw]," the judge concluded.

After the court's decision was announced, the defense said that it would continue to fight its client's extradition proceedings, the final hearing date for which has not yet been set.

"At present, the hearing date for the main extradition proceedings has not yet been set. This will most likely happen soon, as soon as the court orders are returned from the Court of Appeal," the defense representative noted.

Butyagin’s case

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, when he was on his way 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 place him in custody. According to the Polish prosecutor’s office, which received an extradition request from Kiev for Butyagin, he could face up to ten years in prison in Ukraine.

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.