A judge in Poland has ruled that Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin can be extradited to Ukraine, although his defence says he will appeal.
Butyagin is being held in a Warsaw prison for allegedly conducting illegal excavations and plundering artefacts 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 Russia's Hermitage Museum, Butyagin has directed excavations at Myrmekion since 1999. Initially authorized by Ukraine, his work has continued without Kyiv's consent post-annexation.
He could face a jail term of up to five years if found guilty of plundering artefacts, including over 30 gold coins, resulting in damage estimated at more than $4.5 million.
Before his arrest, Butyagin had been giving public talks across Europe and had been aware of an arrest warrant issued by Kyiv in 2025.
Butyagin's unauthorized excavations in Crimea are considered illegal under the 2nd protocol of The Hague Convention. Ukraine, along with several European countries, is a party to this protocol, while Russia is not.
In November 2024, Ukraine's state security service claimed to have gathered evidence against a Russian citizen looting Ukrainian cultural heritage in occupied Crimea. Butyagin's work has been criticized for harming the region's cultural heritage.
While he has suggested that he continued digging to preserve archaeological sites, Ukrainian authorities call for a halt to Russian archaeological activities in occupied areas.
