Poland releases Russian archaeologist wanted by Ukraine: FSB

Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who is accused by Ukraine of unauthorised excavation and plundering of historical artefacts in Crimea, is escorted by Polish police as he arrives at a district court in Warsaw, Poland, January 15, 2026. REUTERS-Yonhap

Poland on Tuesday released a jailed Russian archaeologist, Alexander Butyagin, who was wanted by Ukraine, as part of a multi-country swap deal that also saw a Polish journalist freed from a Belarusian jail, Russian state media reported.

"As a result of an exchange carried out on the Belarusian-Polish section of the border, two citizens of our country were returned to their homeland," state media cited the FSB security service as saying, naming one of them as Butyagin.

The head of the archaeology department at the famed Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Butyagin faced extradition to Ukraine for conducting excavations in Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.

Source: Korea Times News