The Great Escape Of Artyom Uss

How a Balkan crime gang sprang a Russian businessman from Italian house arrest.

Vladimir Jovancic wasn’t shy about his affinity for the criminal underworld: the nickname for his TikTok account, where he posted videos of Orthodox churches, motorboats, and expensive fur coats, is the Russian phrase “thief-in-law” — a pop-culture nod to the storied universe of Russian organized crime.

At 9:30 on the morning of February 17, 2023, Jovancic, a citizen of Bosnia-Herzegovina, set out driving from the Italian town of Desenzano del Garda, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. His two mobile phones pinged cell towers in the region as he drove to the Milan suburb of Basiglio, just over four hours away.

It was an early step in a plot that culminated in an audacious jailbreak: an escape from house arrest for a Russian named Artyom Uss, who was wanted by U.S. authorities on charges of smuggling sensitive technology used in Russian weapons in Ukraine. Uss’s father was a powerful Russian governor with ties to the state oil giant Rosneft and a personal connection to President Vladimir Putin.

Uss’s escape, the day after an Italian court cleared his extradition to the United States, was deeply unpleasant for the Italian authorities; Italy, one lawmaker said, “embarrassed itself internationally.” The U.S. government has put out a $7 million reward for his capture.

But the intricacy of his escape also offered a window into the operations of a transnational organized crime group, rooted in Serbia, and hints of how well-connected Russians may in fact have relied on intelligence agencies to spring the wanted businessman from custody and smuggle him out of reach of the Italian and American authorities.

Italian prosecutors have implicated six people in the plot. Three are in custody — one in Croatia, one in Slovenia, both awaiting extradition to the United States, and another in Italy. The other three remain at-large.

Using investigative materials and surveillance video provided by Italian authorities, as well as evidence filed by prosecutors in the United States and two other countries, RFE/RL reconstructed how Uss fled a gated community in suburban Milan, crossed three borders, and ended up flying home to Russia from Belgrade.

The Aftermath

Jovancic was arrested by Croatian authorities on December 4 on a U.S. arrest warrant and sent to a Zagreb detention center. The October 27 grand jury indictment that was unsealed the day after Jovancic’s arrest accused him of being one of several people involved in Uss’s escape.

As of publication of this report, Jovancic remained in custody in Zagreb pending extradition proceedings, according to Croatian authorities.

His son Boris was arrested the same day by Italian authorities, according to the ANSA news agency. It’s unclear whether he also faces U.S. charges.

Janezic was arrested on January 19, 2024, in Ljubljana by Slovenian authorities on an Italian arrest warrant. He was ordered into house arrest, pending extradition to Italy, a Slovenian police spokesperson told RFE/RL.

The other three suspects – Ilic, Ibo, and Lolic – remained at-large as of publication of this report. Neither Lolic nor Ilic could be located for comment.

Serbia’s Justice Ministry did not respond to queries from RFE/RL about Uss’s escape and whether the government had received an arrest warrant or similar request for legal assistance from Italy or elsewhere.

‘An International Embarrassment’

Since returning to Russia, Uss has largely kept a low profile, with little or no posting on social media and mentions in Russia media.

The fallout from his escape, however, has persisted.

Around the time Uss reappeared in Russia, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was questioned by reporters on his escape.

“The case is quite serious,” said Meloni, whose government has been in office since around the time of Uss’s arrest. “There are certainly anomalies. I think the main anomaly is the [court’s decision] to keep him under house arrest [for] questionable reasons and to maintain the decision even when there was a decision on extradition.”

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio also suggested that the decision had been a mistake.

“With this familial situation, having a wife and a home, this man went home from jail with a bracelet, despite the fact that judicial authorities had been inundated with indications he was a high flight risk,” Nordio told Italian lawmakers on April 20, 2023.

And at a session in the lower house of parliament two weeks later, members of the opposition Green-Left electoral bloc ripped into the government for their handling of the case.

“How is it possible that he was not guarded, monitored constantly, but only every 72 hours?” lawmaker Devis Dori said.

“Italy, in the manner in which the Italian government has handled the Artyom Uss affair, has just embarrassed itself internationally,” said Angelo Bonelli, chairman of the Green Europe party.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment, referring questions to Italian authorities and the U.S. Justice Department in Washington. The Justice Department declined comment, referring only to previously released press statements.

The Italian Justice Ministry did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.

Adding further intrigue to Uss’s escape: persistent speculation that Russian intelligence agencies played a role in arranging or facilitating the plan.

“We need to actually understand whether there was also interference, an external intervention by Moscow’s secret services,” Dori, the lawmaker, said during the parliament hearing last April.

Neither Dori nor Bonelli responded to messages seeking further comment.

On the day of Uss’s reappearance in Russia, a Russian Telegram channel known for its links to Russian security services reported that his escape may have involved a former Italian special forces officer who has lived in Moscow for at least six years and was married to a Russian woman.

The channel, Cheka-OGPU, also said Uss had been given a fake passport.

Uss’s father, meanwhile, publicly thanked Putin.

“Special words of gratitude go out to our president,” he said upon his son’s return to Russia. “He is not just the head of our state, he is a man with a big and open heart.”

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