Pecohub Poland has received an extradition request from Ukraine for Russian archaeologist Oleksandr Butyagin, who Kyiv accuses of conducting illegal excavations in Russian-occupied Crimea, Polish media reported Tuesday.
The Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office received the extradition request from Ukrainian authorities for Butyagin, who was detained in Poland on 4 December, according to Polish radio station RMF FM.
Butyagin, 52, is an employee of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, where he heads the ancient archaeology sector on the northern Black Sea coast in the ancient world department.
Polish authorities arrested Butyagin at his hotel in Warsaw while he was travelling through Europe on an Italian visa and had a trip to Belgrade planned, according to reports. A Polish court placed him in custody for 40 days until 13 January while the extradition process proceeds.
Butyagin had been in Poland to deliver lectures, having previously given talks in Prague and Amsterdam.
