He learned the theory from Grazianeddu Mesina, the practice, on the other hand, from Marco Raduano, the ruthless mafia boss who melted away on 24 February last with a daring escape complete with a key and sheets from the maximum security prison of Badu 'e Carros. in Nuoro. He used the timing of the former Scarlet Pimpernel of Orgosolo, who disappeared a few hours before the verdict of the Cassation that would have sent him back to prison, he escaped from Italy with the ruthlessness and arrogance of someone who can do whatever he wants, even in defiance of the most secret intelligence apparatuses, starting from the Italian and American ones. The difference, however, is substantial: Artem Uss, a Russian oligarch in Sardinian land, in order to escape from Italy, shortly before his extradition to the United States, did not act with blankets and cunning. They just came for it. A "withdrawal" manu militari, a ruthless coup by Putin that is making its way around the world, from diplomacy to the most important Western secret services, starting with the Americans.
James Bond stuff
The story is one to make James Bond pale. 007 mission, sophisticated like few others, much more than a spy story. Sardinia could not avoid being the protagonist. In fact, when we talk about oligarchs, Putin's men, Russian business beyond the Moscow curtain, it doesn't take long to get to the Nuraghi Island. It almost seems that the disciples of the tsar, sent to the West, have chosen Sardinia as their favorite home for luxury and business, borderline investments, all millionaires, all facing the sea, all linked to the tourist real estate market, from the Costa Smeralda to the Costa Dorada. We dealt with this apparent nobody, a Russian passport with businesses and hotels in the private enclave of Porto San Paolo, south of the Costa Smeralda, some time ago. It was October 17 last year.
FBI in the field
In a blitz at Milan Malpensa airport he was first stopped and then arrested by the Italian secret services. The arrest warrant was countersigned by none other than the US Department of Justice, under the aegis of the FBI, the largest intelligence organization in the world. A military operation, even in that case. Directly televised by Washington. The first objective is to secure him in his homeland Italian prisons and then, possibly, after his extradition, in the American ones. The character is directly linked to Vladimir Putin. The chronicles tell of the son of one of the men most loyal to the tsar, the governor of Krasnoyarsk, in the middle of Siberia. Very heavy accusations for this boy, who became an oligarch in the name and on behalf of a powerful father, a personal friend of the eternal tenant of the Kremlin. This time it is not a story of holidays gone bad, but if anything a real international case, complete with American and Russian secret services which in wartime contend with the sound of kidnappings and arrests for the father who owns one of the most exclusive proscenium in the land of Sardinia, the Don Diego resort, right there in front of the island of Tavolara. The personal details are circumscribed: Artem Uss, born in 1982, born in Moscow, domicile without street number in via Gabriele D'Annunzio in San Teodoro, Sardinia, the seaside soul of the Nuorese.
Trafficking for missiles and jets
The warrant wasn't for speeding. It was signed by none other than the Chief Justice of the United States of America, District of New York. For him trafficking in military technologies stolen from American manufacturers, such as components for missile systems, radars and satellites, as well as the evasion of sanctions and money laundering on a global level. Arrest was obvious, but you know, ending up in jail in Italy is not automatic. The conjunction was written: house arrest complete with a georeferenced bracelet to follow any movements and, perhaps, prevent any escape attempts. The Americans cannot understand it, but they know that the jurisdiction does not allow them to go beyond the tensions of these hours.
American alarm
The message of the justice of the States, however, had been clear. Last November 29, the judicial authorities of New York, with a formal and registered communication in the buildings that count, sounded the alarm: you must take "all possible measures" to order a "serious" pre-trial detention against Uss, until the definition of the entire judicial extradition procedure. For Americans, the risk of flight of the subject is very high. The decision came on March 21st. The Milan Court of Appeal gives the go-ahead for the Russian scion to be extradited to the United States. A pre-announced sentence, predictable in every detail, from the day to the time of its issue. If Grazianeddu Mesina anticipated the escape by a few hours compared to the new arrest warrant, Artem Uss, on the other hand, took it easy. Time to pack his suitcase, and wait for his guardian "angels" in black overalls to pick him up from the most borough of all, on the extreme outskirts of Milan's southern park, to that temporary residence in Bosco Vione di Basiglio. Not an escape from house arrest, but a real operation of "withdrawal" of Putin in the land of Padania, to "extradite" in his own way, the "trafficker" son of one of the men most loyal to the tsar's circle.
Broken bracelet
The bracelet alarm, according to some reconstructions, would have been triggered late, according to others it would have never been triggered. When the carabinieri enter Uss' house in Basiglio, almost an hour will have passed since the start of the escape. To get inside the house they even have to wait for the firefighters to break down the armored door. Upon entering, they will find only a few clothes, out of season for use in Siberia. The reconstruction in these hours becomes even more paradoxical: in Italy a real Russian intelligence apparatus has been acting undisturbed, with a freedom of action that is unleashing a real "diffidence" reaction towards Italy at an international level.
Failure of the Russian "command".
After all, how could it be otherwise if a Russian "command" manages to insinuate itself with such bravado into a theoretically enemy territory, the Italian one, and take one of the most wanted Russian men from the United States? The American accusation for the Russian is clear: he provided technological support to Putin's war against Ukraine. The work now is all aimed at understanding how it was possible to organize such a sensational and surreal "escape" in the land of Padania. In the last few hours, even more striking aspects have emerged on this "international shame": the Americans, in fact, did not take Artem Uss's farewell without greetings very well. From the military air base of Aviano, totally available to the Americans, a few hours after the escape even two F16 jets appear to have taken off. The excuse was that of a drill. In reality, however, the Yankees tried in every way to get the fugitive back. The radar traces of the two fighters are evident. A real siege, almost a swarm in flight, on the border between Italy and Austria, in the vain and desperate hope of being able to intercept the plane that was "blissfully" bringing the young oligarch back to his homeland, the Russian one. No way. Shortly before Easter, the Russian state agency "RIA Novosti" gave news of the operation that had just ended: Artem Uss, the son of the governor of Krasnojarsk, who had escaped from house arrest in Milan, has returned to Russia.
Greetings from Siberia
Not only do they divulge the news, but also the first statements of the Russian oligarch at the head of Holding Sardinia Luxory, who has just returned to the glaciers of Siberia: «I'm in Russia. In these particularly dramatic days, I have had strong and reliable people by my side, I thank them". The "political" motivation for the escape is disarming: «The Italian Court, on whose impartiality I had initially counted, has demonstrated its clear political commitment. Unfortunately, it is ready to bow to pressure from the US authorities. At this moment, when other nations are playing without rules against Russian citizens, going home is a victory. An escape that will, however, have a very high cost, starting with what the scion of the Putin family leaves in Sardinia. According to the investigators there are current accounts full of millions of euros, but above all a paradisiacal stretch of coast in the Municipality of Loiri Porto San Paolo. Up to now, Europe and the Italian State do not seem to have "expropriated" any of his possessions in Sardinia. But they won't be late.
Nobody's land
Here, in the very private land of Don Diego, close to his majesty, the Island of Tavolara, majestic as never before, the waves on the desert-red beach have a slow course, lying on an exclusive horizon, the promontory of Costa Dorada, private enclave in Northern Sardinia, southeast of the Costa Smeralda. Today more than ever no man's land, the rightful owner, in fact, has fled to Siberia. In Italy, in this hermitage for a few, he will never return. Its five-star resort, the Don Diego Hotel, is closed. No longer due to urgent and mandatory commitments with the American justice system, but due to an unprecedented return to the homeland. A movie escape, with the Russian 007 deployed militarily against the Americans. The dispute is all for Artem Uss, citizen of San Teodoro, Russian oligarch in the land of Sardinia.
