Jun 1: Uss--How the son of the Krasnoyarsk governor escaped from house arrest in Milan

As published by The Moscow Times on May 31, 2023

How the son of the Krasnoyarsk governor escaped from house arrest in Milan

Serbian organized criminal group and condescending judges.

As published by The Moscow Times on May 31, 2023

When Milanese judges placed Artyom Uss under house arrest in November 2022, the United States, seeking his extradition, warned the Italian authorities that the likelihood of his escape was very high. And so it happened: Uss disappeared from his Milan residence the day after the court ruled that he should be extradited to the United States.

His flight was organized by a criminal gang from Serbia, where, after changing several cars, he was eventually delivered, and from there he flew to Moscow, writes The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper spoke with Italian officials and other people familiar with the situation, and also got acquainted with some documents on the case. Artyom, the son of the Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Uss, became an involuntary assistant to the overloaded Italian judicial system, where the prison is used as a place of pre-trial detention only as a last resort, the lawyers explained.

In addition, the authorities underestimated the importance of Uss to both Moscow and Washington and did not take the necessary precautions, some experts say. According to Stefano Maffei, a law professor and extradition expert at the University of Parma, even under house arrest, Uss could have been monitored more effectively. The Russian had an electronic bracelet on his ankle that only worked over Wi-Fi in the apartment, and was checked several times a day by the Carabinieri. Security cameras were not installed because it would be considered unlawful interference with the legal process, people familiar with the situation told the WSJ. Uss could use a mobile phone, the Internet and receive visitors.

The risk of flight was high because of Ussa's international connections, Maffei says: "It seems that both the court and the government ignored this element and made unfortunate decisions."

The same was true of the US authorities. After a three-judge panel approved on November 25 a request by Uss, who was arrested in October, to be placed under house arrest, the US embassy attaché sent a request to the Italian Ministry of Justice to reconsider the decision. The letter, seen by the WSJ, also indicated that in the past three years alone, six people had escaped from house arrest in Italy and were requested to be extradited by the United States. In the case of Uss, there is a "clear and significant risk" of escape, the letter said. The Ministry of Justice says that they showed it to the judges, but the Americans were told that the decision on the measure of restraint is within their competence, that Uss will be put on a bracelet and that in the Italian system “house arrest is in every sense equivalent to being in a pre-trial detention center.”

Based on Italian law and practice, "it would have been strange if he hadn't been placed under house arrest," says lawyer Nicola Canestrini, who has defended more than 100 people awaiting extradition. Usually, for this, the defendant must have a place to live, and Uss had an apartment in a wealthy residential area near Milan.

On March 22, the day after the court approved the extradition of Uss to the United States, the Carabinieri visited him in the morning, as usual. But at 1:52 p.m., his bracelet stopped working, indicating that he had left the building. By the time the police arrived, it was already late. [Monique: The police arrived an hour after the alarm.]

Representatives of a Serbian criminal group took him out of Italy, a person familiar with the circumstances of the escape told the WSJ. The Russian secret services were not directly involved in it - the risk was too great that they were being followed, according to the Italian authorities. “We would have known,” a source told the WSJ. On the way to Serbia, Uss changed cars at least once and crossed several borders. From there, he is believed to have flown to Moscow, people familiar with the situation say.

According to the US Department of Justice, even before the war, Uss, together with accomplices, built secret supply chains, through which, in violation of US export controls, he shipped electronics for fighter jets, missile systems, smart munitions, radars, satellites and other military developments to Russia. They continued to do this even after the start of the war in Ukraine. The Russians also smuggled Venezuelan oil.

In addition to Uss, Yuriy Orekhov (he was detained in Germany), Svetlana Kuzurgasheva, Timofey Telegin, Sergey Tulyakov were arrested in the case. According to the German authorities, Orekhov's extradition procedure is ongoing.