A judge in Poland has ruled that Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin can be extradited to Ukraine, although his defense says he will appeal.
Butyagin is being held in a Warsaw prison for allegedly conducting illegal excavations and plundering artifacts 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, saying 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 the possible risk of violations to 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 said.
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. Initially, his research was authorised by Ukraine. But when Russia annexed the peninsula in March 2014, the work continued without Kyiv's consent and carried on after the full-scale invasion eight years later.
He could face a jail term of up to five years if found guilty of plundering artifacts, including 30 gold coins, resulting in damage estimated at more than $4.5m (£3.4m).
Butyagin's excavations in Crimea are considered illegal under the 2nd protocol to The Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, which Russia is not a party to.
With the case reflecting broader issues regarding cultural preservation and heritage in conflict zones, Butyagin has argued that his intention was to protect the archaeological site from deterioration.
Amidst ongoing tensions and accusations surrounding the integrity of cultural heritage in Crimea, this case underscores the vulnerability of archaeological sites in times of war.
