ROSTOV-ON-DON. May 10 (Interfax) - Mother of pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in the United States, died of a heart attack at a hospital in Rostov-on-Don on Sunday, Viktoria, wife of Konstantin Yaroshenko, told Interfax on Sunday.
"She suffered second-stage cancer, but doctors said that everything will be all right. Cancer has already been operated on, and everything has been removed. She has already been getting up and walking, but her heart failed after the last fourth surgery," Yaroshenko said.
The report that Konstantin was again denied a release from custody was another blow to Lyubov Yaroshenko, she said.
As earlier reported, Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010, on charges of preparing to smuggle a large amount of cocaine, and was subsequently extradited to the U.S. On September 7, 2011, a U.S. court sentenced Yaroshenko to 20 years of imprisonment.
The Russian authorities think that the arrest was illegal and accuse the American special services of bringing the Russian citizen to the U.S. in secret.