The governor of Siberia has been dismissed after his son escaped from house arrest in Italy and was extradited to the United States.

The father of a Russian suspect in smuggling, wanted by the United States, has stepped down as governor in Siberia, as reported on the Kremlin's website on Thursday. Alexander Uss, 68, was appointed acting head of the Krasnoyarsk region by President Vladimir Putin in 2017 and was elected governor in 2018.

He is the father of entrepreneur Artem Uss, 40, who was one of five Russians detained in Italy at the request of the United States in 2022. Washington accuses the Russian citizens of illegal schemes to export U.S. military technology to Russia, bank fraud, and violations of sanctions related to oil supplies from Venezuela.

Immediately after their arrest in Italy last autumn, Russia demanded the extradition of Uss on separate charges of fraud. Junior Uss escaped from house arrest in March, a day before his extradition was approved by an Italian court.

Italian media reported that Ussa was likely assisted by employees of the Russian special services. On Thursday, the name of the younger Ussa disappeared from the database of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later that same day, the Kremlin announced the resignation of the senior Ussa from the position of governor of the Krasnoyarsk region.

Putin appointed Mikhail Kotyukov, who served as the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia from 2018 to 2020, as the acting governor to replace Uss. This change is one of several that Putin has made in recent months ahead of the upcoming regional elections in September.