Artem Uss has returned to Russia: the tycoon and son of the governor of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, who escaped from house arrest in Italy, has made it known that he has managed to return to his country. “I’m in Russia. In these particularly dramatic days, strong and reliable people have been with me. Thanks to them,” he told state-run RIA Novosti, accusing Italy.
“The Italian court, whose impartiality I initially counted on, has demonstrated its clear political bias. Unfortunately, it is also ready to bow to pressure from the US authorities,” he added. In the current international situation, when Russian citizens are subjected to “games without rules”, returning to their homeland, even in such a “non-standard” way, is a victory.
Uss, arrested in Italy, was wanted in the US for smuggling of oil from Venezuela to Russia and China and bank fraud, and again for trafficking in military technology from the United States to Russia. The US investigation sought to reconstruct the network that allowed Russia to obtain important components for the production of hi-tech weapons for use in Ukraine.
Uss risked thirty years in prison, the Americans had requested his extradition and the Italian court had just authorized it. But the man managed to escape from house arrest on the outskirts of Milan, despite the electronic bracelet and probably with the complicity of the Russian secret services.