Russia summons Polish ambassador to demand release of detained archaeologist

Russia said on Tuesday that it had summoned Poland's ambassador to protest over the detention of a Russian archaeologist and demand that he be immediately released instead of extradited to Ukraine.

Poland arrested archaeologist Alexander Butyagin last month at the request of Ukraine, which accuses him of conducting unauthorized excavations and plundering historical artifacts in Crimea.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had called in Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski on Monday and told him that the Ukrainian charges were "absurd."

The statement said that Butyagin, an employee of the renowned Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, had been working in Crimea for decades, and all his finds had been transferred to a museum there.

"It is emphasized that the Russian Federation demands the immediate release of the Russian citizen and that he not be handed over to the Kyiv regime's punitive machine, which has no resemblance to justice," it said.

Ukraine says it is defending not just its people and territory but also its cultural heritage in its conflict with Russia.