A senior archaeologist at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has been arrested in Poland at the request of Ukrainian authorities, according to The Art Newspaper, who are seeking his extradition over alleged illegal excavations carried out in Crimea.
Alexander Butyagin, who heads the Hermitage’s department focused on ancient archaeology of the northern Black Sea region, was detained in Poland in December 2025 while traveling in Europe for a lecture tour. A Warsaw appeals court upheld the arrest in February and ordered that he remain in custody until June 1 as the extradition process moves forward.
Ukrainian prosecutors accuse Butyagin of conducting archaeological work in Crimea without authorization from Ukrainian authorities after Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula. Investigators say the excavations were carried out without the permits required under Ukrainian law.
According to Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence agency, Butyagin was added in February 2025 to the government’s “War and Sanctions” registry, which tracks individuals accused of violating Ukrainian law in territories occupied by Russia. Ukrainian officials allege that an archaeological expedition he led at Myrmekion, an ancient Greek colony in Crimea, removed 30 gold coins, including 26 bearing the name of Alexander the Great.
Russia has rejected the accusations. In January, the Russian foreign ministry described the case as unfounded and defended Butyagin’s work as contributing to the cultural heritage of the region. Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage Museum, has also criticized the arrest, characterizing it as political pressure connected to Western sanctions on Russia.
The case has stirred debate among scholars about the role of archaeologists working in territories under military occupation. Some Russian academics, including critics of the Kremlin living abroad, have defended Butyagin as a scientist engaged in research rather than a political actor.
Ukrainian heritage specialists dispute that view, arguing that archaeological work must comply with the legal framework governing cultural heritage. Elmira Ablyalimova-Chyihoz of the Kyiv-based Crimean Institute for Strategic Studies said that the profession cannot be separated from the legal and political context in which excavations take place.
The dispute comes amid broader tensions over cultural heritage in Crimea since Russia seized the peninsula from Ukraine. Ukrainian researchers say archaeological sites have increasingly been used to reinforce political narratives about the region’s history, including at the Unesco-listed site of Tauric Chersonese, which has been largely inaccessible to international oversight since the annexation.
Legal experts say the extradition request could carry wider implications because it rests on the premise that Crimea remains part of Ukraine under international law. Irina Tarsis, founder of the Center for Art Law, noted that Ukraine has required official licenses for archaeological work at heritage sites since 2004 and treats unauthorized excavations as a criminal offense.
