WASHINGTON. July 17 (Interfax) - The Russian embassy in Washington is looking into the circumstances surrounding the detention of Russian citizen Maria Butina, who has been arrested in the United States on suspicion of espionage, is working to find out where she is being held, and is trying to gain access to her.
"The Consular Section of the Russian embassy in Washington is probing the circumstances of Butina's detention and is working to establish where she is being held. We are communicating with the American authorities on the issue," a Russian diplomatic mission spokesperson told Interfax.
"We are trying to persuade them to grant consular access to the Russian citizen in order to protect her legal rights," the spokesperson said.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday charged Butina with espionage and acting as an agent of Russia within the United States, according to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia's ruling published on the Department of Justice website.
Investigators believe that Butina has been involved in a conspiracy in the District of Columbia and in other places that began in 2015 or possibly even earlier, acting as an agent of foreign states, primarily Russia. According to the investigators, Butina's assignment was to "exploit personal connections with US persons having influence in American politics."