Prague Prosecutor's Office raises charges against Russian national Franchetti over Crimea

The Prague High Prosecutor's Office has charged Russian national Alexander Franchetti with assisting in the annexation of Crimea, where he is suspected of having formed an espionage group in Sevastopol, Czech Television (CT) reported on Friday. The Czech police arrested Franchetti based on a Ukrainian arrest warrant last September. Ukraine accuses him of participation in the operation of an illegal armed unit. Franchetti has pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Prague High Court previously did not admit Franchetti's extradition to Ukraine due to the ongoing war there. According to Ukrainian bodies, Franchetti agreed, upon his arrival in Sevastopol in 2014, to join the operation of the Crimean Self-Defence group, which was illegal in Ukraine, and aimed, among others, to suppress the resistance of Kyiv's supporters among the local population.