BARNAUL. Oct 28 (Interfax) - Russian citizen Maria Butina, who was deported from the United States, will return to her native city of Barnaul, Altai Territory, in the next few days, the young woman's father, Valery Butin told Interfax on Sunday.
"In spite of the fact that much time has already passed since Masha's return to Moscow, we still cannot get over it due to the constant attention to this issue and the necessity to tell about this period of her life. Her health condition is normal, and she is doing amazingly fine. I and she will come back home to Barnaul in the next few days," Butin said.
He said that he had been staying with his daughter in Moscow, where they are having many meetings, including with journalists.
"Tomorrow [on Monday], Masha will have to give a new large interview. We are certainly very tired of this attention. We just want to stay alone with each other, but we understand that it is necessary to tell about this troubled period of Masha's life. We will return home, the time will pass and a new life will begin," Butina's father said.
He said he and Maria hoped for travelling to Barnaul no earlier than Tuesday, October 29.
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 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' imprisonment 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.
On October 26, Butina was deported and arrived at the Sheremetyevo International Airport on the Aeroflot Airlines plane from Miami.