Italian prosecutors seek 6 suspects who allegedly aided the escape of Russian man sought by the US

MILAN (AP) — Milan prosecutors have identified six suspects who allegedly aided the escape from Italian custody of a Russian national a day after an Italian court ruled in favor of extraditing him to the United States to face sanctions-busting charges.

Artyom Uss, the 40-year-old son of the governor of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia, was arrested as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul in October 2022. He was under house arrest with an electronic bracelet near Milan when he escaped five months later. He resurfaced in Russia in April.

Uss is wanted in the U.S. on charges of smuggling Western technologies in violation of Western sanctions and money laundering. He faces up to 30 years in prison, Milan prosecutors said.

Italian prosecutors said some of the suspects helped Uss reach the Slovenian border by car. The six are identified as an Italian national of Bosnian origin and five foreign nationals living abroad. No names or information on their whereabouts were given.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has acknowledged “anomalies” in the handling of the case, including an appeals court ruling to move him to house arrest a month after he was arrested.