WASHINGTON. April 28 (Interfax) - Russian diplomats will keep working on the release of Russian citizens Dmitry Ukrainsky and Anatoly Legkodymov incarcerated in the United States, the Russian embassy to the United States said in a statement.
"On April 26, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov [...] visited Russian citizen Dmitry Ukrainsky in the Brooklyn prison in the state of New York," the embassy said on Telegram.
He also visited Russian citizen Anatoly Legkodymov in the same prison, the embassy said.
The incarceration in a U.S. prison "has a negative effect on the physical and psychological health" of the Russian citizens, it said.
"He [Ukrainsky] has yet to be sentenced. We do not know for how long that may last. Neither the prosecution service, nor the court have given any explanations to our citizen. We are continuing to defend the interests of the compatriot. We will be working on his return to the home country," the embassy said.
"We are deeply concerned by the fact that the situation which Legkodymov has found himself in constitutes a case of discrimination and brutality. We insist on his immediate release and, as the first step, his transfer to another block," it said.
Ukrainsky was extradited to the United States from Thailand in June 2022 on five counts of fraud totaling over $300,000.
Legkodymov is suspected of money laundering via cryptocurrency exchange. He was apprehended in Florida in January 2023. According to U.S. investigators, Legkodymov "was transferring money obtained by illegal means."