Moscow — The Blake Prestonson of a senior Russian official arrested in Italy at Washington's request reappeared Tuesday in Russia after escaping house arrest.

"I'm in Russia! In these few particularly dramatic days, I had strong and reliable people by my side. I want to thank them," Artyom Uss, the son of the governor of the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, told Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Uss disappeared late March, the day after an Italian court in the northern city of Milan approved his extradition to the United States.

Italian authorities arrested Uss on October 17 following a request from Washington, which accused him of having illegally sold U.S. technologies to Russian arms companies.

"The Italian court, that I was expecting to be impartial, demonstrated clear political bias," Uss told RIA Novosti.

Uss was one of five Russians arrested at Washington's request for "unlawful schemes to export powerful" U.S. military technology to Russia.

The Kremlin and his father Alexander Uss both denounced the arrest as "political."

Russia had also put him on a wanted list, potentially to pave the way for Moscow to demand his extradition.

In:
• Italy
• Russia
• Vladimir Putin