Russian governor's son's extradition to the US is approved by Italy

A court in Italy approved the extradition of Artem Uss, the son of Krasnoyarsk Governor Alexander Uss, to the United States on Tuesday after he was arrested on accusations of evading sanctions and money laundering. The 40-year-old was detained in Italy in October at the Milan Malpensa Airport on the orders of the US, which has charged him, as well as five other Russian nationals, with helping Moscow to evade Western sanctions. Uss, who is now under house arrest near Milan, has repeatedly denied the allegations and his lawyer has told TASS news agency that they intend to appeal the US extradition decision. In October, a Russian court also ordered the arrest of Uss and placed him on the federal wanted list for a money laundering scheme of an especially large scale. Uss has formally objected to being deported to the US, but has officially asked to be extradited to Russia.

His lawyers have questioned the potential conditions of the businessman's detention in the US and pointed out that the Russian could face discrimination in an American prison. The final decision on extradition will be made by the Italian justice minister, and will be carried out only after all the relevant documents are signed. Under Italian law, the minister is allowed to override the court's decision in such cases.