Ought to a high Russian archaeologist face trial for digging in occupied Crimea?

[ad_1] Grigor Atanesian & Investigations Crew BBC Information Russian

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/097f/live/82c3aba0-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="t.me/kotovayanora A selfie of a white man looking into camera with a wall of ancient stones as a backdrop" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> t.me/kotovayanora A selfie taken by Alexander Butyagin earlier this 12 months at an historic web site in Crimea

A Russian archaeologist detained in Poland is on the centre of an intense debate over the position of museums and consultants and the position they play in Kremlin conflict propaganda.

Alexander Butyagin is below arrest in Warsaw, awaiting a Polish courtroom determination on a request to extradite him to Ukraine.

Till now, courts throughout Europe have been reluctant to extradite Russians to Ukraine, citing the European Conference on Human Rights.

Butyagin's case has divided opinion.

A senior scholar on the Hermitage, Russia's largest artwork museum in St Petersburg, he has led the museum's expedition on the web site of Myrmekion in Crimea since 1999, properly earlier than Russia's unlawful landgrab of Ukraine's southern peninsula in 2014.

Supporters argue his work has helped protect Crimea's historic heritage, however critics say he's no higher than a looter of Ukrainian historical past taking advantage of Russia's occupation.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dfed/live/2ecef1c0-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Foundations of ancient houses at an archaeological site" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Photographs Website of Myrmekion in Crimea

Myrmekion dates again to the sixth Century BC, when the Historical Greeks settled in Crimea as democracy was being born in Athens.

Butyagin's expedition has uncovered lots of of historic cash on the web site, some from Alexander the Nice's interval within the 4th Century BC.

His expedition continued after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine, and a prison case was opened in opposition to him by Ukrainian authorities for working there with out authorisation.

In November 2024, he was positioned on a wished record, and in April 2025 a Kyiv courtroom ordered his arrest in absentia. Butyagin is accused of unlawful excavations and "unlawful partial destruction" of an archaeological advanced.

Underneath the 2nd Protocol to the Hague Conference for the safety of cultural property within the occasion of armed battle, occupying authorities "shall prohibit and forestall" any archaeological excavations with only some, slender exceptions.

Each Poland and Ukraine are events to the protocol, whereas Russia shouldn't be.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1174/live/b5a11030-da91-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="AFP via Getty Images Two white middle-aged man in an art museum surrounded by ancient busts" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> AFP through Getty Photographs Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky has endorsed Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine

Excavations, nonetheless moral, quantity to destruction in the event that they happen with out permission and below situations of armed battle, says Evelina Kravchenko, a senior researcher on the Institute of Archaeology of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Butyagin "violated the Hague Conference, and all his issues stem from that", says Krachenko, whose committee issued permits for Russian archaeologists to work in Crimea earlier than its annexation.

Butyagin informed Russian media final 12 months he was "merely doing the work we have devoted our lives to", and that his predominant purpose was preserving monuments.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f3ef/live/0719ff30-da92-11f0-a935-a596470f30cd.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images An ancient sacrophagues that features large sculptures of seated woman and man, their heads missing " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Photographs This historic Roman sarcophagus from Myrmekion has been within the Hermitage assortment since 1851

The Hermitage press workplace insisted Butyagin's work complied with all worldwide authorized and moral norms "no matter geopolitical circumstances."

A senior archaeologist from the museum informed the BBC that Butyagin had adopted the one path accessible for Russian archaeologists working in Crimea.

"A Russian archaeologist, if he desires to proceed his analysis, has no alternative to acquire permits from the Ukrainian aspect, however should receive them from the Ministry of Tradition of the Russian Federation," stated the scholar who spoke on situation of anonymity as he was not authorised to touch upon the case.

A number of Ukrainian sources have additionally accused Butyagin of "looting" objects by taking them to Russia, though these fees usually are not a part of Ukraine's case.

Each the archaeologist and the Hermitage insist all their finds stay in Crimea as they're transferred to the Japanese Crimean Museum in Kerch. They argue that objects can solely be relocated to Russia briefly for restoration or as exhibition loans.

Nevertheless, this violates Ukrainian legislation too, as all discoveries should go into Ukraine's museum fund. Underneath the phrases of Russia's unlawful annexation, the Japanese Crimean Museum assortment has as an alternative been made a part of Russia's museum fund.

Because the begin of the conflict, a number of European courts have refused Ukraine's requests to extradite Russians, citing potential dangers below the European Conference, which prohibits politically motivated persecution, violations of the correct to a good trial, and torture and inhuman therapy of detainees.

Even when the Polish courtroom deciding Butyagin's case does discover enough grounds to extradite him, it won't go forward, says Gleb Bogush, a researcher on the Institute for Worldwide Peace and Safety Legislation on the College of Cologne.

Final June, Denmark's Supreme Court docket dominated in opposition to extraditing to Ukraine a Russian nationwide suspected of espionage for Moscow.

Gleb Bogush says it's primarily the Russian state and its officers which are liable for Crimean excavations, relatively than Butyagin, as a result of it was lower than archaeologists to resolve whether or not the Hermitage expedition ought to proceed.

A senior Hermitage worker informed the BBC that "a discipline archaeologist can't be a citizen of the world; he offers with officers, acquiring permits and has to search for funding and volunteers".

Butyagin has attracted help not simply from the Kremlin however from Russians who oppose Putin and the conflict.

"The claims being made in opposition to him are absurd," stated Arseny Vesnin, an exiled journalist and historian. He stated Butyagin had ensured conservation and preservation of the location he was excavating.

Others preserve that artefacts would have been looted by criminals and offered on the black market if Russian archaeologists had refused to work in Crimea.

That doesn't justify their actions, says Samuel Andrew Hardy, a number one British criminologist specialising within the safety of cultural property in battle zones.

Official excavations don't at all times cease prison digs from going down, he argues. Some looters goal websites which have already been excavated.

Hardy says all that Butyagin's supporters are doing is arguing that in the end Russia ought to simply be allowed to hold on doing what it desires whatever the conflict.