Russia demands release of detained archaeologist facing extradition to Ukraine

Russia has summoned Poland's ambassador to formally protest the detention of a Russian archaeologist, demanding his immediate release rather than extradition to Ukraine.

Alexander Butyagin was arrested by Polish authorities last month following a request from Ukraine. Kyiv accuses the archaeologist of conducting unauthorised excavations and plundering historical artefacts in Crimea.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had called in Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski on Monday and told him that the Ukrainian charges were "absurd".

The statement said that Butyagin, an employee of the renowned Hermitage museum in St Petersburg, had been working in Crimea for decades, and all his finds had been transferred to a museum there.

"It is emphasized that the Russian Federation demands the immediate release of the Russian citizen and that he not be handed over to the Kyiv regime's punitive machine, which has no resemblance to justice," it said.

Ukraine says it is defending not just its people and territory but also its cultural heritage in the war against Russia.

It has accused Russia of taking precious historical items from Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and from other parts of the country following Russia's invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.