The son of a Russian governor who was facing extradition to the US on multiple criminal counts escaped house arrest in Italy and returned home, reportedly with the help of Russian secret agents.
Artyom Uss, 40, was arrested in Italy in October on a US warrant seeking his extradition of charges of smuggling US military technology to Russian companies, shipping oil from Venezuela in breach of sanctions, money laundering, and bank fraud.
In December, Uss, the son of the governor of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia was transferred from jail to house arrest at a compound in Milan, where he remained until March 22, when he fled.
Uss went on the lam just hours after an Italian court ruled to hand him over to the US to face two of the four charges against him – sanctions violation and bank fraud — carrying a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
For nearly two weeks, Uss’ whereabouts were unknown, but that changed Tuesday when he informed Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti that he was back home.
Uss claimed he had no choice but to go on the run because the Italian court had “demonstrated its clear political bias” and was likely to “cave in under the US authorities’ pressure.”
“In today’s international environment when they play against us ‘without rules,’ my return home, even though it happened in a ‘non-standard’ way, is a victory,” Uss said.
The fugitive kept mum about the specifics of his escape, only saying that he had help from “strong and reliable people who were next to me during those dramatic days.”
The Italian news outlet La Repubblica has claimed that Russian intelligence agencies orchestrated Uss’ extraction.
After removing his GPS ankle monitor, Uss was reportedly taken out of the country on a fake passport, before a private jet whisked him back to Russia.
His father, Governor Alexander Uss, has confirmed his son’s arrival, telling the news Telegram channel Baza that he has already spoken to him.
“He’s made it to Russia. If he wants to tell others how he made it, he can do it himself,” the elder Uss said.