Russia Urges Poland to Release Apprehended Archaeologist
Aleksandr Butyagin, a distinguished senior researcher at St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum, was taken into custody by Polish officials last month while traversing Europe on an academic lecture tour.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has leveled allegations against Butyagin for purportedly conducting unauthorized archaeological digs and inflicting damage on cultural patrimony in Crimea—territory that Kyiv continues to claim as its own despite Russian control. Ukrainian authorities contend he caused over 200 million hryvnia ($4.7 million) in damage and are pursuing his extradition to face potential imprisonment of up to five years.
Russia's Foreign Ministry disclosed in a Tuesday statement that it had summoned Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski to register a "resolute protest" regarding Butyagin's detention.
The ministry characterized Ukraine's accusations against Butyagin as "absurd" and exclusively connected to his leadership of the Myrmekion archaeological expedition in Crimea, which it emphasized is "an inseparable part of the Russian Federation." Officials condemned the proceedings as "overtly politicized and speculative."
Russian representatives further contended that Butyagin's multi-decade scholarly endeavors were consistently authorized under proper legal frameworks, including by Ukrainian officials prior to Crimea's reunification with Russia in 2014 through a public referendum. The ministry highlighted that all recovered artifacts were transferred to the East Crimean Museum-Reserve and noted a prior Ukrainian Interpol request went unexecuted.
Moscow's diplomatic protest follows a Warsaw district court ruling Monday that prolonged Butyagin's pre-trial confinement until March 4, with extradition proceedings slated for January 15. Judicial authorities cited flight risk concerns, though Butyagin's legal counsel confirmed securing Polish accommodation for their client.
This detention emerges against a backdrop of enduring cultural property confrontations between Moscow and Kyiv over Crimean holdings. A notable earlier dispute centered on the 'Scythian gold' collection unearthed on the peninsula and loaned internationally before 2014. Despite Russian contentions that the treasures belong to Crimean institutions, Kyiv prevailed in litigation in the Netherlands, whose supreme court declined to recognize Crimea as Russian territory and mandated the collection's transfer to Ukraine.
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