NEW YORK, August 19. /TASS/. Russian diplomats urgently visited Russian citizen Maria Butina, who had been transferred to another US jail on Friday, the Russian embassy said in a Facebook statement.

"Russian diplomats paid our fellow citizen an urgent visit in the new prison. We will continue to strive for Maria’s freedom," the statement reads. The embassy confirmed that after a month in a Washington prison Maria had been transferred to a prison in Alexandria without any notice.

According to Russian diplomats, Butina’s all "personal belongings, including books, towels, sneakers and personal hygiene items, were taken from her."

"Next 12 hours she spent in a quarantine cell with no food, the lights turned on and almost without sleep. Now she will have to endure an ‘administrative segregation’ (isolation) regime. She will be locked in a solitary confinement cell," the Russian diplomats said.

The embassy added that the Russian citizen’s "situation is getting worse." "Attempts are obviously made to ‘break’ her under additional humiliations and psychological pressure… Her confinement in a DC prison ended with a humiliating strip search. It is outrageous that Maria was transferred in shackles. With that, nobody bothered to tell her what was happening and where she was being taken," the statement says.

"We have more and more questions to the US justice system. Should allegations pressed against Maria before the actual trial condemn her to practices that are slightly below torture? It seems that the reason behind the US decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council was to give the US authorities green light for such provocations," the embassy pointed out.

"The US Department of State will receive another demarche with a rigorous assessment of unacceptability of the methods our citizen has to suffer, demanding a normal, humane response to current developments. We expect human rights organizations to strictly condemn the US actions. This lawlessness must be stopped," the Russian embassy stressed.

On Saturday, Butina’s attorney Robert Driscoll told TASS that the Russian had been transferred to a jail in Alexandria, Virginia. He noted that the US authorities had not explained their reasons for the move and had not informed him about their plans in advance.

Butina case

Russian citizen Maria Butina, 29, was arrested in Washington DC on July 15.

According to the US Department of Justice, she is suspected of acting "as an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with US persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation." The next court hearing in Butina’s case is scheduled for September 10.

Zakharova said earlier that Moscow considered Washington’s allegations against Butina to be groundless and politically motivated. According to her, Russia has been doing everything possible to protect the woman’s legitimate rights and interests.