Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Kyiv approved the extradition of the defendant in the case of a scheme involving 120 million euros, but he was not handed over to Warsaw.
The Ukrainian authorities, without explanation, halted the return to Poland of 63-year-old Bronisław D., who was convicted there for money laundering and participation in an organized crime group. The man was detained in Lviv during a joint operation with Polish police, and he was supposed to be handed over to Poland on 23 September. Now he is not in custody, and no new date has been set, Interia reports.
According to journalists, in communications with Polish colleagues, the Ukrainian authorities did not provide reasons. The Polish side was only told that the previously agreed date is no longer relevant.
After his arrest, the man ended up in custody in Ukraine, and the extradition procedure began. The Ukrainian authorities gave consent for it. But the Polish services never handed him over.
Subsequently, the court released Bronisław D. from custody. The prosecutor’s office appealed the decision, but the higher court kept it in force. In recent weeks, Lviv courts also issued other rulings in the case, the reasons for which Poland was not explained. As a result, the Polish, he is free, and when he will be handed over is unknown. Polish law enforcement continues to search for him.
Bronisław D. has been wanted since 2017. A red notice from Interpol and a European arrest warrant were issued against him, and he was placed on national arrest lists. The Polish Police's Central Bureau of Investigation determined where he was hiding and passed the data to Ukrainian colleagues. In March, he was detained in Lviv by Polish authorities together with Ukrainian cyberpolice.
In Poland, the man is to serve four years in prison for participation in an organized crime group, tax crimes, and money laundering. According to the investigation, Bronisław D. led the group that earned from financial machinations and money laundering. The amount of the fraud in this case reaches 120 million euros.
At the end of September, Vladimir Zhuravlov, whom Germany suspects of the Nord Stream sabotage, sought political asylum in Croatia, although a local court had already allowed his extradition to Berlin. Ukrainian lawyer Mykola Katerynchuk argued that in Germany his client would not face a fair trial. He also acknowledged that seeking asylum does not automatically stop extradition.
Ukraine also faces such requests when it itself asks for the surrender of suspects. In August 2025, head of the Specialized Anti-C corruption Prosecutor’s Office Oleksandr Klymenko said that the defendants in the case of the former head of the State Property Fund request refugee status, so extradition processes can last up to a year.
How international search works and why a person can hardly be detained and extradited without an Interpol red notice, is explained in the ZN.UA article “In Ukraine they want to simplify international search and extradition of Ukrainians. How will it work?” by attorney Denys Shevchenko of the law firm Illyashev & Partners.
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