Russia warns of detaining Polish nationals if Poland doesn’t release arrested Russian archaeologist Aleksandr Butaigin.
Russian Warnings and Threats
According to Biełsat, Russian media, specifically so-called Z-patriots (Russian bloggers supporting the invasion of Ukraine) and representatives of Russian authorities, have “fallen into hysteria” and threaten to arrest Polish citizens if Poland does not release detained archaeologist Aleksandr Butaigin from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
“Why? For exchange,” explained Grzegorz Ślubowski, former consul general of Poland in St. Petersburg in his article. “The situation is serious and I would not treat these threats humorously or abstractly. On the contrary, this is a very real scenario,” added Ślubowski.
Specific Threats from Russian Figures
A professor from a St. Petersburg university wrote on social media that “what we could do, we have done, now it is necessary to diplomatically give Poles a beating.” Meanwhile, propagandist Sergey Mardan on Komsomolskaya Pravda stated that “one should arrest two or three Poles for jaywalking and as quickly as possible give them for exchange, because only in this way can Butaigin be extracted.”
Ślubowski also cited posts from Z-patriots who call for creating an “exchange fund.” “In other words – they need to arrest Poles to have someone to exchange for Butaigin,” explained the author. “Is it possible that the Russians will go so far with this (…)? Definitely. This is precisely the modus operandi that is the norm of action, not an exception. This is how things are done in Russia,” assessed Ślubowski.
Detention of Russian Archaeologist in Poland
Last Thursday, January 15, the District Court in Warsaw postponed the decision on the extradition of Aleksandr Butaigin to Ukraine. Butaigin’s defense requested the recusal of presiding judge Dariusz Łubowski, citing concerns about his impartiality. The case was adjourned indefinitely until another judge is appointed.
Background of the Case
In the first half of December, media reported that officers of the Internal Security Agency detained a Russian scientist wanted by Ukrainians in one of Warsaw’s hotels. Butaigin is an employee of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Recently, he was traveling across Europe. Ukraine issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of conducting illegal research on Russian-occupied Crimea and destroying Ukrainian cultural heritage.
Ukrainian Charges Against Butaigin
According to the prosecution, following a request from the Ukrainian prosecution for extradition, the Russian national allegedly conducted illegal excavation work on the archaeological complex “Ancient city Myrmekion” in Kerch, Crimea, without proper permits since the beginning of the territory’s temporary occupation.
As a result of these activities from 2014 to 2019, he allegedly “unlawfully partially destroyed the cultural heritage object,” causing damage estimated at over 201 million hryvnias (over 17 million zlotys). Moscow has stated that the accusations of Ukrainian authorities are “absurd and politicized.”
