Archaeologist Butyagin, who led Russiaʼs illegal excavations in Crimea, hopes to be home by Friday

Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who led the Russian Federationʼs illegal excavations in temporarily occupied Crimea, hopes to be home by Friday.

Butyagin informed his colleagues from the Hermitage about this, writes the initiative "Lawyer for Alexander Butyagin".

The archaeologist is in Belarus while work is underway on documents for his return to the Russian Federation. Butyaginʼs phone and laptop are under arrest at the request of Ukraine. The defense intends to appeal the decision to seize the items and seek their return.

The day before, it became known that Butyagin had been exchanged for a Belarusian political prisoner as part of a five-for-five exchange between Poland and Belarus. The Russian Federation announced that Butyagin was already expected in Kerch for excavations of the ancient settlement of Myrmekion, which he led as the head of the expedition.

• Hermitage employee Oleksandr Butyagin was detained in Warsaw on December 4, 2025, at the request of the Ukrainian prosecutorʼs office. In Ukraine, he is suspected of conducting illegal excavations on the territory of the Myrmekion settlement in occupied Crimea and destroying the cultural layer of an archaeological site worth over UAH 200 million.
• Ukraine demanded his extradition, and in January the Polish prosecutorʼs office agreed to this request. In March, a Polish court agreed to extradite Butyagin.

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