MILAN—A Kremlin-connected businessman was arrested in Italy at the request of the US for illegally selling American military technology to Russia. He then gone.
Despite US concerns, Artem Uss, the son of a key Russian official close to President Vladimir Putin, was able to flee back to Moscow after Italy granted him house arrest. According to sources familiar with the events, Uss eluded Italian authorities by employing cars and an international network of assistance, including a Serbian criminal group.
The scandal has strained relations between the United States and Italy, undermining Rome’s efforts to portray itself as a trusted partner in the West’s struggle with Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
It has also deprive the United States of a potentially significant asset in prisoner exchanges for Americans arrested in Russia, including Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich, whom the US administration believes is unfairly detained.
Gershkovich, 31, was seized by Federal Security Service (FSB) officials on March 29 while on a reporting trip in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. He is being held on suspicion of espionage, which he, the Journal, and the US government all dispute.
Uss would have been the most politically connected Russian detained in the West since Moscow launched its full-scale assault of Ukraine. On his son’s return, his father, Alexander Uss, the former governor of the Krasnoyarsk region, a big and oil-rich slice of Siberia, hailed Putin. “Special thanks are extended to our president.” “He is more than just our state’s leader; he is a man with a big and open heart,” the older Uss added.
Artem Uss’ extradition to the United States had been accepted by Italy, where he faced criminal charges for violating sanctions on military technology and oil, as well as money laundering, and could face up to 30 years in jail if convicted. According to Uss, the charges are politically motivated.
The US Embassy in Rome expressed “disappointed” that Uss was able to depart. According to a person familiar with the situation, American officials were privately upset by Italian authorities’ failure to explain what went wrong.
“Certainly, there were anomalies,” remarked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following Uss’s escape. She cited the judges’ decision “to keep him under house arrest for questionable reasons and to maintain the decision even when there was a decision on extradition.”
Italy’s failure to stop Uss’s flight sparked concerns about probable corruption, collaboration, or pro-Russian agendas in government or the judiciary.
“The truth is far more mundane. But it’s also considerably more serious,” a person familiar with the situation said.
This narrative, based on records and interviews with Italian officials and others, demonstrates how Uss’s escape was facilitated in part by an overworked court system in which imprisonment is viewed as a last resort.
Furthermore, several legal experts believe Rome misjudged Uss’s importance to both Moscow and Washington and did not take adequate measures.
“There could have been other ways to effectively monitor Artem Uss, even while he was under house arrest.” “I’m surprised that didn’t happen,” said Stefano Maffei, a law professor and extradition expert at Parma University. According to him, Uss’s worldwide ties constituted a high chance of escape. “Both the courts and the government seemed to ignore that element and came to embarrassing decisions,” he said.
Artem Uss’ major line of business was imports and exports of anything from oil to semiconductors. In early 2022, US government enforcement began accumulating evidence that Uss and a business partner were smuggling Venezuelan oil and exporting key US dual-use technology to Russia through a Germany-based trading corporation. This includes microchips used in ballistic missiles, fighter planes, and smart munitions, some of which were discovered on the Ukrainian battlefield.
The fugitive’s father, a director of the national oil company Rosneft, has worked closely with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, one of Putin’s closest allies. The Uss family’s commercial interests range from London real estate to a Malaysian aerospace company to a hotel in Sardinia.
Artem Uss was arrested on October 17 at Milan’s Malpensa Airport as he prepared to catch a flight to Istanbul, a regular layover on the way to Moscow. His business partner was detained by German authorities. In announcing their arrests, Breon Peace, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, called the defendants “criminal enablers of oligarchs.” The business partner’s lawyer could not be reached for comment. According to German police, the individual is still detained and extradition proceedings are ongoing.
Uss was arrested and brought to a prison in a Milan suburb. The US requested that Italy keep it that way. The US Justice Department informed the Italian Justice Ministry in a letter that there was a “clear and substantial risk of escape,” according to Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, who later testified in front of Parliament. Days later, US officials conveyed the identical message to the Milan court in charge of Uss’s detention and extradition, according to Nordio.
On November 25, a panel of three justices at the Milan court approved Uss’s request for home arrest. Prosecutors did not file an appeal.
The Justice Department’s attaché at the US Embassy in Rome wrote to the Italian Justice Ministry, pleading with them to reconsider. Six people wanted for extradition to the United States had escaped from house arrest in Italy in the previous three years, according to the letter.
“An established pattern of fugitives who fled Italy pending an extradition request from the United States reinforces the fact that house arrest does not effectively guarantee the fugitive’s availability for an eventual handover,” the letter, obtained by the Journal, stated.
“Granting Uss house arrest increases the significant risk that he will do the same.” “We respectfully request that Italian authorities keep Uss in custody for the duration of the extradition proceedings so that if extradition is granted, he can face justice in the United States,” the letter added.
The government stated that the letter was shared with the judges. The judges had no comments.
The Justice Ministry said that it was up to the judges to decide whether to award house arrest. To reassure the Americans, the ministry stated that Uss was required to wear an electronic ankle monitor and that in Italy’s court system, “house arrest is in every way equivalent to being kept in pretrial custody.”
Italy has a reputation for allowing high-profile defendants and convicts to evade jail cells with relative ease over the years. The overburdened legal system is mainly reliant on house arrest and other minor limitations, like as travel bans. Only those deemed highly dangerous or at higher risk of flight must wear ankle monitors.
Foreigners awaiting extradition benefit from Italy’s liberal rules as well. To be eligible for house arrest, defendants must have a place to live and someone to care after them. They must also highlight ties to Italy.
Uss, like many of Russia’s elite, had property in Italy, which the Milan court took as proof that he would not flee.
According to Italian law and case law, “it would have been strange if he had not been granted house arrest,” said Nicola Canestrini, an Italian lawyer who has represented over 100 clients facing extradition petitions. Six of his clients fled Italy before the matter was resolved, including two who were wanted in the United States.
“It’s possible that one out of every hundred will escape,” Canestrini remarked. “Freedom is a basic human right.” Political considerations cannot jeopardize human rights.”
Uss began his house imprisonment in a posh gated community in Milan in early December. He was given a phone, internet access, and visits. Military police from the Carabinieri checked on him numerous times a day, including the morning of the day he escaped.
According to those acquainted with the situation, Italian intelligence did not keep Uss under surveillance since doing so would have amounted to illegal involvement in a court procedure.
Uss vanished on March 22, the day after the Milan court granted the US extradition request. His ankle bracelet, which only worked on the apartment’s Wi-Fi network, notified Carabinieri that he had left the building at 1:52 p.m. It was too late by the time cops arrived.
According to one person familiar with the situation, a crew of Serbian criminals assisted in ferrying him out of Italy. Authorities in Italy believe Russian intelligence officers were not directly involved in the escape because the risk of being watched was too great. “We would have known,” the individual stated.
According to sources familiar with the events, Uss changed automobiles at least once and passed multiple countries on his route to Serbia, from where he is thought to have flown to Moscow.
“I’ve arrived in Russia!” “I had strong and reliable people by my side in these last few particularly dramatic days,” Uss told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on April 4. “The Italian court, on whose impartiality I had initially relied, revealed its obvious political bias.” Unfortunately, it is ready to capitulate to US authorities,” he stated.
The government impounded Uss’s property and financial holdings in Italy, sparking outrage in Rome.
Nordio, the Justice Minister, stated that he lacked the jurisdiction to re-arrest Uss. He filed disciplinary charges against the three Milan judges who gave Uss house arrest, accusing them of “grave and inexcusable neglect.” The judges’ union slammed the minister’s decision as “unacceptable” and threatened to strike.
The three judges are unlikely to face any consequences. “There was an error of judgment, not an obvious mistake in the application of the law,” a person familiar with the case explained.
Credit: Nogoom Masrya