Six months after Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the place Dmitry Lagovsky and his spouse had been born, they left their life within the Moscow suburbs and moved to Serbia with their two kids. Fighting was not an choice, he mentioned, so that they selected flight.
“Our mates are there, my spouse’s mother and father,” Lagovsky informed RFE/RL’s Balkan Service in a latest interview. “It could be a catastrophe if I went to struggle towards Ukraine.”
But that is precisely what he fears will occur if he’s despatched again to Russia, and the nightmare now threatens to turn into actuality: On December 3, the Court of Appeal in Belgrade upheld a High Court ruling that paves the best way for his extradition.
The case can be forwarded to the Justice Ministry, whose resolution is last and can’t be appealed, Lagovsky’s lawyer, Marko Stambuk, informed RFE/RL. He urged previous precedent was not encouraging.
“In observe, it very not often occurs that the minister of justice refuses to extradite an individual for whom the courts have decided that the conditions for which were met,” Stambuk mentioned.
A lawyer himself in Russia, Lagovsky, 49, didn’t converse Serbian when his household made the transfer. He took a job as a bus driver within the Belgrade public transportation system.
Lagovsky confronted no felony proceedings in Russia earlier than leaving the nation in August 2022. The extradition request relies on a case that was initiated later, through which Russian authorities say he’s suspected of fraud.
‘I Am Not A Criminal’
He mentioned the case stemmed from a 2021 deal through which, as a lawyer, he drew up a contract on the acquisition and sale of land between two corporations.
“One firm bought one other piece of land, however I used to be neither an worker nor an proprietor in any of them. I used to be a lawyer and as a lawyer I drew up a contract between these two corporations,” Lagovsky mentioned.
“I’m not a felony and I’ve by no means been one,” he mentioned.
In April 2025, Lagovsky was summoned to report back to the High Court in Belgrade, the place he was given a doc stating he was wished by Russia. The courtroom ordered him detained for 21 days, and he was launched on the finish of that interval.
If he’s extradited, Lagovsky must be tried in Russia, however he fears the state will ship him to the entrance as a substitute. “I’ve the rank of captain within the military. I believe they wish to ship me to Ukraine,” he mentioned.
Two days after the appeals courtroom resolution, Lagovsky knowledgeable Serbia’s Internal Affairs Ministry of his intention to use for asylum. Under Serbian and worldwide regulation, the federal government is obliged “to adequately examine whether or not he’s actually in such hazard earlier than attainable extradition,” Stambuk mentioned.
No Reply
RFE/RL contacted the Justice Ministry by e-mail to ask whether or not the minister would take all of the circumstances of the case under consideration when making a call. No reply has been acquired.
Estimates of the variety of Russians who’ve left the nation because the begin of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine vary as much as 1 million and better. Some have returned, however lots of of hundreds stay overseas.
More than 53,000 of the roughly 100,000 foreigners legally residing in Serbia are Russians, based on the federal government. Serbia isn’t a European Union member, and Russians don’t want visas to journey there.
Several Russians who’ve opposed the struggle towards Ukraine or say they fled because of the invasion have been denied entry or everlasting residency in Serbia, with the state offering little by the use of clarification in some circumstances.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has maintained good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Belgrade has resisted EU strain to affix Western sanctions to punish the Kremlin for the struggle.
