U.S. Extradites Russian Man Wanted For Organizing Murder

The United States has extradited a Russian man wanted by Moscow for allegedly organizing a murder in the 1990s.

Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said on June 28 that U.S. immigration officers turned over Gennady Gavrilets, 47, at an international airport in the Russian capital earlier in the day.

"At Sheremetyevo airport the suspect was handed over to Russian law-enforcement officials, who immediately arrested Gavrilets," Volk said.

According to Volk, efforts by Russia’s Interpol office and the Russian Interior Ministry made the handover possible, despite no extradition treaty existing between the two countries, whose relations have cooled in large part due to Russian actions in Ukraine.

The international arrest warrant for Gavrilets was issued in December 1998. Details of the murder that Gavrilets is accused of organizing have not been disclosed.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax