Russian Hermitage archaeologist Alexander Butyagin announced his plan to resume illegal excavations near occupied Kerch this summer, telling Russian state media outlet Vesti on 30 April, according to RFE/RL. Butyagin made the announcement three days after Belarus traded him out of a Polish prison in a 5-for-5 prisoner swap, just over a month before his Polish detention was set to expire and a Polish court ruling had cleared his extradition to Ukraine on charges of cultural-heritage destruction worth $4.8 million.
Three days from prison cell to summer looting plans
Polish authorities detained Butyagin in Warsaw on 4 December 2025 at Ukraine's request. He had been giving lectures in Europe and was passing through Poland from the Netherlands. On 18 March 2026, a Warsaw district court approved Ukraine's extradition request, with Butyagin's lawyer announcing an appeal.
The case never reached a Ukrainian courtroom. Belarus traded Butyagin and a Russian soldier's wife from occupied Transnistria back to Russia on 28 April, in exchange for three Polish nationals and two Moldovans crossing the other way at the Belarusian-Polish border, the Polish foreign minister confirmed.
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"I think the work should continue"
Asked by Vesti whether he plans to return to the digs, Butyagin answered yes, RFE/RL's Krym.Realii project reported. His only stated concern was the timing.
"I think so. The question now is rather whether I'll have time to organize the expedition before summer, because reports still need to be filed, and since I lost five months, that's a significant period. I think people may understand my situation. And I think the work should continue," Butyagin said.
The Hermitage Museum's press service announced on its Telegram channel that Butyagin will return to Saint Petersburg shortly and continue his scientific and educational work.
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Heading the same expedition since 1999
Butyagin heads the Northern Black Sea Region Classical Archaeology Sector at Russia's State Hermitage Museum. He has led the Myrmekion expedition near Kerch every year since 1999, including continuously after Russia's 2014 occupation and annexation of Crimea — the digs Ukrainian prosecutors say lacked permits from Kyiv.
Ukraine filed charges against Butyagin in November 2024 and placed him on the international wanted list in November 2025. The investigation accuses him of partially destroying a national-level cultural heritage site, with damages exceeding 201.6 million hryvnias ($4.8 million).
Ukrainian prosecutors say the dig produced 30 gold coins seized by Butyagin's expedition — 26 bearing Alexander the Great's name and four from the reign of his half-brother Philip III Arrhidaeus.
Kyiv's prediction came true within 72 hours
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry warned right after the swap that Russia would "cynically use this political and legal episode to justify the occupation of Crimea and the exploitation of Ukraine's temporarily occupied territory by Russian citizens." Butyagin's announcement came three days later.
The Office of the Prosecutor General said it will keep pursuing Butyagin through every domestic and international tool available, including in absentia proceedings, for crimes against Ukraine and its cultural heritage.
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