A judge in Poland has ruled that Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin can be extradited to Ukraine, although his defence says he will appeal.
Butyagin is being held in a Warsaw prison for allegedly conducting illegal excavations and plundering artefacts from the ancient city of Myrmekion in Crimea - Ukraine's peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
If Judge Dariusz Łubowski's ruling is upheld, a final decision on extradition will rest with Poland's justice minister.
Butyagin - arrested in Poland at Ukraine's request in December - denies all the allegations. If convicted, he faces up to five years in jail. Russia has demanded his immediate release, claiming the case is politically motivated.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European courts in several instances have refused to extradite Russians to Ukraine, citing possible violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The archaeologist's life and wellbeing would be at risk if he were extradited to Ukraine, Butyagin's lawyer Adam Domański has stated.
A senior scholar at the Hermitage, Russia's largest art museum in St Petersburg, he has since 1999 overseen the museum's excavations of Myrmekion, an ancient Greek settlement founded in Crimea in the 6th Century BC. His research was initially authorised by Ukraine, but after Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, the work continued without Kyiv's consent.
He could face a jail term of up to five years if found guilty of plundering artefacts, including 30 gold coins, resulting in damage estimated at more than $4.5m (£3.4m).
Before his arrest in Warsaw on December 4th, Butyagin had been traveling in Europe giving talks and was aware of a Kyiv court warrant for his arrest issued in April 2025. He did not expect to be apprehended within the European Union.
Russian excavations in Crimea are illegal under the 2nd protocol of The Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, although Russia is not a signatory to the protocol.
Ahead of the extradition, Alexander Butyagin stated that he was digging to preserve an archaeological site and refuted any allegations regarding the unlawful destruction of monuments. However, Ukrainian archaeologists have condemned his actions as damaging to the cultural heritage of Crimea.
