VOLGOGRAD, November 1. /TASS/. Russia is demanding that the United States send jailed Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko back home, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

"We demand that the United States stop bullying Yaroshenko and send him home," the Russian diplomat stated.

American authorities "completely ignore Russian arguments and concerns over Yaroshenko’s state of health," she stressed, noting that his condition was "deteriorating precisely due to the fault of US officials who shoulder responsibility for the duration of his custody," Zakharova emphasized.

"He is suffering from a number of chronic illnesses and is not receiving any proper medical care," the Russian diplomat stressed.

The spokeswoman pointed out that in order to allow the jailed Russian pilot to get the indispensable, urgent medical care that he requires "a huge amount of paperwork and telephone calls" is needed. "Konstantin Yaroshenko has been unable for many years to get this assistance without the hard work of lawyers and diplomats," she stressed.

"We are talking about a citizen who was trapped by bogus, decoy agents and their testimony was used to concoct all the accusations. It is obvious that the predicament with the Russian citizen cannot be seen as nothing more than a gross violation of fundamental international legal and humanitarian norms," the Russian diplomat emphasized.

Yaroshenko was convicted in the United States on September 7, 2011 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He pled not guilty and branded his arrest as a provocation and the entire case as a set-up. Yaroshenko was brought to the United States from Liberia, where he was arrested on May 28, 2010. Agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration allegedly exposed Yaroshenko’s criminal intent to transport a large batch of cocaine.

Russian authorities and the pilot’s family in Rostov-on-Don have repeatedly asked the United States to hand Yaroshenko over to Russia.