Serbia-based criminal gang helped Russian businessman flee home arrest in Italy

A Russian businessman, accused of smuggling military equipment used in the invasion of Ukraine, was expected to be extradited to the United States of America when he managed to escape from house arrest in Italy and returned to Moscow through a successful escape plan. This is how it all happened.

Vladimir Jovanciq did not hide his proximity to the crime world: the nickname he used in his account in TikTok, where he published videos of Orthodox churches, motor boats and expensive fur coatings, is the Russian phrase <x0hidus, legal” Zahargon popular for the Russian organised crime universe, reports Radio Free Europe.

At 9:30 a.m. on February 17th 2023, Jovanciq, a Bosnia and Herzegovina citizen, left the Italian town of Desenzano del Garda on the south coast of Lake Garda.

His two mobile phones were connected to phone towers in the region, while he was driving to Milan's suburbs in Basilyo, just over four hours away.

It was an early step in a plan that culminated in a bold escape from home arrest for a Russian man named Artyom Uss, who was wanted by US authorities on charges of smuggling sensitive technology used in Russian weapons in Ukraine.

Usssi's father was a powerful Russian governor, linked to the state oil giant Rosneft, and close to President Vladimir Putin.

Usssi's escape, a day after an Italian court approved his extradition to the United States, was extremely embarrassing to Italian authorities; Italy, said one lawmaker, “humiliated itself internationally”.

The U.S. government has allocated a $7 million reward for his capture.

But his complicated escape plan shed light on the operations of an international organised crime group that was rooted in Serbia, and hinted at how Russians with powerful connections might actually have relied on intelligence agencies to get the wanted businessman out of custody, and to take him where the authorities can't be accessible by Italian and American authorities.

Italian prosecutors have charged six people with allegations of involvement in the plan.

Three are in custody -- one in Croatia and one in Slovenia -- both awaiting extradition to the United States and another in Italy.

Three more remain at large.

Using investigative materials and surveillance videos provided by Italian authorities, as well as evidence presented by prosecutors in the United States and two other countries, Radio Free Europe has discovered the scheme of how Uss escaped from a closed neighbourhood on the outskirts of Milan, crossed three borders and eventually flew toward Russia from Belgrade.

Full text you find on Radio Free Europe.