A Court of Appeal has ordered the extradition of a Russian national to face trial over allegations of large-scale fraud and breach of trust, overturning an earlier decision by the Paphos District Court.
In its unanimous ruling dated August 11, 2026, the Court of Appeal also ordered the man’s arrest and detention until he is handed over to the Russian authorities. It rejected his cross-appeal.
€160 million space programme
According to the ruling, the case concerns a major Russian space programme funded by the Russian state with 15.15 billion roubles, an amount exceeding €160 million.
The man worked for a Russian space company and allegedly played a significant role in decision-making. He is accused of working with associates to ensure that a specific company was selected without a proper tender process.
Under a contract worth 1.32 billion roubles, funds were allegedly transferred to the company. Around 478 million roubles were reportedly used for the project, while approximately 840 million roubles, or €7.8 million, were allegedly distributed among members of the group and laundered through financial transactions.
Extradition request challenged
The Russian national was arrested in Cyprus in November 2024 under a provisional warrant. In December of the same year, the Minister of Justice and Public Order authorised the start of extradition proceedings.
The Paphos District Court rejected the request in November 2025 solely because it was not satisfied that an active Russian arrest warrant had been established.
The court noted that, if a different interpretation had been adopted on that issue, there would have been no other obstacle to the extradition.
The Attorney General appealed, arguing that the Russian warrant dated December 18, 2020 remained valid.
Court finds warrant remained valid
The Court of Appeal agreed, finding that there was no provision indicating that the warrant ceased to be valid when the preliminary investigation ended.
It also noted that the warrant itself stated that the period of detention would be calculated from the time the wanted person was handed over to the Russian authorities.
Particular weight was given to a “Diffusion” notice, which expressly stated that there was no time limit on the validity of the warrant.
The Court found that the information in the notice matched the details of the Russian warrant and left no doubt that the warrant remained in force.
It further noted that this evidence had escaped the attention of the first-instance court and constituted material evidence that should have been considered.
Court rejects further challenges
In his cross-appeal, the Russian national argued, among other things, that the warrant was defective because it did not include the criminal case number and that an official copy had not been submitted.
The Court of Appeal rejected these arguments, finding that the absence of a case number did not materially undermine the extradition request. It also held that the issue concerning the official copy had effectively ceased to be disputed during the proceedings before the first-instance court.
The man also argued that Russian authorities had withheld material evidence, referring to Russian court decisions concerning alleged accomplices. In those cases, indictments had been returned to prosecutors because they relied on expert evidence that was deemed inadmissible.
The Court of Appeal nevertheless agreed with the first-instance court that there had been no breach of the requesting country’s duty of candour and that no specific and individualised risk of a violation of the man’s fundamental rights had been established if he were extradited.
“The appeal succeeds. The first-instance decision is set aside,” the unanimous ruling states.
The court consequently ordered the extradition of the man and his detention until he is handed over to the Russian authorities.
Also read: Ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou spotted at US AKP offices – Cyprus reference
For more videos and updates, check out our YouTube channel
