VIENNA (Reuters) - Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash, arrested in Austria last week at the request of the United States pending his possible extradition for suspected corruption, accused Washington on Tuesday of having him detained for "purely political" reasons.
Firtash, one of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, thrived under ousted President Viktor Yanukovich and has close ties to Russia through his gas business, but U.S. and Austrian authorities deny his detention is linked to the current tense East-West standoff over Ukraine's breakaway region of Crimea.