Russian national, whose extradition Ukraine wants, seeks political asylum in Argentina

Russian national Igor Churkin, former owner of the Lviv Bus Plants Limited Liability Company (LLC), who is awaiting trial in Argentina to be extradited to Ukraine, is seeking political asylum.

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Details: The legal defence of Russian Igor Churkin, awaiting trial in Argentina to be extradited to Ukraine, has submitted a request seeking political asylum for him.

Quote: "The likelihood of Russian national Churkin being extradited from Argentina to Ukraine is extremely low; the trial on this issue has been automatically halted due to the filed asylum application, which may take several years to be considered. Churkin has also requested Argentine citizenship, as his daughter was born in that country."

Background: 

• On 1 February, the son of Russian oligarch Igor Churkin was detained in Argentina based on information provided by Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation. Churkin owned Lviv Bus Plants LLC. In 2022, he took out a loan from a state-owned bank with this business as collateral, spent the money at his own discretion, and refused to repay the loan to the bank. At the same time, he was unwilling to lose the company's property that was pledged as collateral.
• The Russian businessman devised a scheme to block the sale of the pledged property by a Ukrainian bank. The head of the plant, controlled by the oligarch's son, filed a false statement to the police about the alleged commission of a criminal offence by the bank's representatives.
• The Russian citizen was served with a notice of suspicion under Article 383 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (knowingly false report to a pre-trial investigation body about a criminal offence, combined with accusing a person of a grave crime).

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