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Plane carrying Russian national Maria Butina lands in Moscow

About 50 reporters are waiting for Butina as well

Russian foreign ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Maria Butina and her father Valery Butin Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

Russian foreign ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Maria Butina and her father Valery Butin

© Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The plane carrying Russian citizen Maria Butina who was released from a US prison on Friday has landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.

According to the Flightradar24 website, the plane landed earlier than scheduled.

Maria’s father Valery, who arrived in Moscow to meet his daughter, was waiting for her at the airport. About 50 reporters were waiting for Butina as well.

Among those who met the Russian national was Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Butina, 30, was arrested in Washington on July 15, 2018, ahead of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Helsinki. She was charged with conspiracy to act as a foreign agent in the United States. US intelligence services argued that the Russian citizen carried out this activity without being registered as an agent of a foreign state with the Department of Justice. On April 26, Butina was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Moscow stated that the charges had been trumped-up and demanded her release from custody.Butina's sentence ended on Friday, October 25.

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