WASHINGTON DC. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Russian citizen Maria Butina, who has been convicted and served time in the United States, will depart from Miami, Florida, and arrive in Moscow on the morning of October 26, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told the Russian press.
"Following multiple enquiries made by the embassy in regard to the procedure of Butina's return to Russia, the Department of State gave the official response containing the following information. On October 25, Maria will be transferred from the federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, to the migration center in Miami, from where she will take a flight to Moscow later on the same day," Antonov said.
Butina is due to arrive in Russia "on the morning of October 26," he said.
Hopefully, "that will be the end of the most difficult period in this Russian citizen's life," Antonov said.
"We wish her the soonest reunion with her family and friends and recovery from the ordeal she has been through," he said.
The embassy will keep working on the return of all unfairly convicted Russian citizens to their home country, Antonov said.
"The embassy's work on the defense of rights of Russians incarcerated in the United States will continue," he said.
The former aide to Russian Federation Council member Alexander Torshin and the founder of the Right to Bear Arms association, Maria Butina entered the U.S. on a student visa, as she studied at the American University in Washington DC until spring 2018. She was arrested on July 15, 2018. The U.S. Justice Department charged Butina with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government in the U.S. without prior notification to the Attorney General.
The investigation established that Butina had conspired to infiltrate conservative U.S. circles to promote Russian interests, acted as an agent of a Russian government official, and used her personal relations with an American who could influence U.S. politics. Butina pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal foreign agent and concluded a plea deal with the prosecution at the end of 2018.
On April 26, a U.S. court sentenced Butina to 18 months for undeclared activities in favor of Russia's interests in the U.S. She was credited for nine months she had already been held in prison pending trial.
Following the deportation, she will be unable to ask for permission to enter the U.S. for ten years.