Russia is trying to block the extradition of Horațiu Potra from Dubai, according to a The Guardian investigation.

Russia is making efforts to stop the extradition from Dubai of Horațiu Potra, a former French legionnaire and Romanian-French mercenary accused in Romania of conspiracy to commit a coup, according to an investigation by The Guardian. The effort is coordinated by Igor Spivak, head of the Russian Society for the Middle East, and Igor Kalinin, a pro-Russian Moldovan refugee in Moscow, who have hired a team of lawyers in the United Arab Emirates to secure Potra's release.

He was arrested in September at Dubai airport, along with his son and grandson, while they were heading to Moscow. Romanian prosecutors accuse him of collaborating with pro-Russian politician Călin Georgescu to overthrow the constitutional order, and the investigation reveals connections between Potra and influential circles in the Kremlin.