Alexander Butyagin

Alexander Butyagin is a Russian archaeologist and academic associated with the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. He is the head of the Ancient Archaeology department. Butyagin is currently newsworthy due to his arrest in Poland and the subsequent ruling by a Polish judge to extradite him to Ukraine. Ukraine accuses Butyagin of conducting illegal archaeological excavations in Crimea, specifically at the ancient city of Myrmekion, which they claim partially destroyed the site. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, and Ukraine considers archaeological work conducted there without their permission to be illegal. The case has raised tensions between Russia and Poland, with the Kremlin warning Poland over Butyagin's arrest. The situation highlights the complexities of cultural preservation and international law amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.