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MARIA BUTINA'S CASE

Maria Butina released from US jail flies to her home city of Barnaul, says father

The Russian national was charged with conspiracy to act as a foreign agent in the United States

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Maria Butina and her father, Valery Butin, left to right Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Maria Butina and her father, Valery Butin, left to right

© Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Russian national Maria Butina, who arrived in Moscow on Saturday after being released from a US prison, flies late on Monday to her home city of Barnaul, Altai region, her father Valery Butin has told TASS.

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"Shortly," the father said about the date of his daughter’s leaving for Barnaul. He said ‘yes’ in reply to the question whether it would be Monday. Butina is expected to fly to Barnaul from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.

"The priority plan is to recover mentally. Of course, she must have a rest. The situation with her ‘being up the river’ so to say was difficult. A tiresome flight and welcome, there’s been a lot of events, she needs a rest," the interlocutor said.

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, and she returned to Russia on Saturday.

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Maria Butina's case

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