ROSTOV-ON-DON. June 7 (Interfax) - The wife of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted in the U.S. for plotting to smuggle cocaine, would welcome it if he could be swapped for retired Federal Security Service (FSB) Col. Valery Mikhailov, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for spying for the CIA on Wednesday.
"I do not rule this out and really hope that such an exchange could take place. After all, this is the Russian authorities' principled position to rescue our citizens in trouble," Victoria Yaroshenko told Interfax on Thursday.
Victoria said she had no opportunity to contact her husband, as he is still being held in a punishment cell. "He is unlikely to know anything about the potential possibility of such an exchange," she said.
Yaroshenko's wife stressed that nobody had told her about the possibility of such an exchange "either officially or by hints."
Konstantin Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 and later taken to the U.S. He was charged with an attempt to bribe Liberian authorities and trafficking cocaine in South America, Africa and Europe. His family has dismissed the charges as absurd. In September 2011, Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Kommersant reported on Thursday that the U.S. could swap Mikhailov for Yaroshenko or Russian businessman Viktor Bout sentenced in the U.S. to 25 years in prison for arms dealing.