WASHINGTON, December 3. /TASS/. Russia’s embassy in Washington and consulate general in New York are in contact with the US authorities and the administration of the prison where Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko is being kept to make sure he receives proper care after a surgery, spokesman for the Russian embassy Nikolai Lakhonin told TASS on Sunday.

"The Russian embassy in Washington and the consulate general in New York are in contact with the US authorities and the administration of the prison Konstantin Yaroshenko is being kept in to ensure proper medical assistance to him," he said.

"Currently, we are learning more about his operation," he added.

Yaroshenko’s wife, Viktoria, told TASS earlier in the day, he husband had been operated in the United States. The operation was successful, unlike the previous one in the spring of 2016, when he had been taken from hospital back to the prison being still under anesthesia.

Konstantin Yaroshenko was convicted in the United States on September 7, 2011 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He pled innocence and described his arrest as a provocation. All charges against him were trumped up, he stated.

The pilot had been brought to the United States from Liberia, where he was arrested on May 28, 2010. Agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration operating under cover allegedly exposed Yaroshenko’s criminal intention to transport a large batch of cocaine.

He is serving the prison term at the Fort Dix federal prison, New Jersey.

Russia has repeatedly requested the United States to release Yaroshenko.