The Foreign Ministry expressed gratitude to all the public figures who supported Butyagin.

From the moment of the detention of archaeologist Alexander Butyagin in Poland until his release, Russia received appeals from scientists from all over the world in his support and sincerely thanks them for this. This was announced on April 29 by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

"We are sincerely grateful to the representatives of the Russian and international scientific community who came out in support of the Russian scientist. <...> Once again, I want to say a low bow to all those public figures who literally from all over the world wrote appeals in support of Alexander Mikhailovich Butyagin," she said.

The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that the detention of a prominent Russian scientist at the request of Ukraine was an indicator of gross legal arbitrariness in the countries of the collective West.

"They couldn't explain anything," Zakharova summed up.

Poland has released Russian archaeologist Dmitry Butyagin. What you need to know

On April 28, the Public Relations Center of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation announced Butyagin's release from prison in Poland. The process of receiving and transferring the designated persons was carried out on the Belarusian-Polish border. The FSB clarified that this event was the result of a multi-stage operation.

The ministry explained that Butyagin was released on the terms of an exchange. During an exchange involving a Russian archaeologist and the wife of a Russian serviceman on the Belarusian-Polish border, Russia extradited Moldovan intelligence officers who arrived in Russia in 2025 to carry out reconnaissance operations. During the investigation of the criminal case, it was possible to collect information proving their affiliation to the Moldovan intelligence service.

Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the Hermitage, said that Butyagin, an archaeologist, would continue his scientific and educational activities at the museum after his release. The Hermitage also thanked the government, the diplomatic services and the scientific community for their assistance in his release.