The Warsaw court refused to postpone consideration of the case of the detained archaeologist Butyagin

The Warsaw District Court refused to postpone consideration of the case on the extradition of Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin to the territory of Ukraine. Adam Domansky, the archaeologist's lawyer, told Izvestia on January 15.

"The court refused to postpone the consideration of the case, as well as to consider our request for the provision of materials on the case by the Ukrainian side," he said.

According to the lawyer, Butyagin did not agree with the admission of his extradition to Ukraine because it poses a "threat to life and health."

"We started the meeting by filing a motion for its postponement, justifying this, on the one hand, by the need for time for Alexander to familiarize himself with the materials provided by the Ukrainian side, the translation of which we presented to the wanted man only today," he explained.

According to the human rights activist, the Ukrainian side accuses the archaeologist of carrying out research work without allegedly appropriate permission, however, this circumstance cannot serve as a basis for Butyagin's extradition, since in Ukraine such an act does not provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment.

Also, in the second part of the charges, the Ukrainian side suspects the archaeologist of causing damage in the amount of more than 200 million hryvnias at the site, while no explanation was provided on what basis these accusations were made.

They're digging under themselves: what will the arrest of a Russian archaeologist mean for Warsaw

And how did the Russian Federation react to the arbitrariness of the Polish authorities?

Earlier that day, Butyagin was taken to a Polish court to consider the case of extradition to Ukraine. Also, when asked about his condition, Butyagin replied that he felt fine, after which he was taken to the courtroom.

Butyagin's detention in Poland became known on December 11, 2025. The Ukrainian authorities were looking for him allegedly for illegal archaeological research in Crimea. On January 12, a journalist from Izvestia reported that the Warsaw District Court had decided to extend his arrest after the hearing on Butyagin's case. It is specified that the arrest of the Russian was extended until March 4. The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the accusations from Ukraine are absurd.

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