MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Russian national Alexander Vinnik, who has been released from a US prison, has said that his return to Moscow is a "gesture of good will" of Russia and the United States.
"He (Marc Fogel - TASS) is also an ordinary man, as far as I understand. So, I can say that this was not an exchange but a gesture of good will," he told the Rossiya-1 television channel. He noted that he had been arrested in the United States during Donald Trump’s first presidential term and released during his second office term.
"The Office of the US Attorney General and the White House are moving toward Russia. Obviously, this is a thaw [in relations]," Vinnik’s attorney Arkady Bukh said.
Alexander Vinnik, who was detained in Greece in 2017 at the request of the United States, returned to Russia under an agreement between the two nations. In the US, the Russian was accused of laundering $4-9 bln through the now defunct crypto exchange BTC-e. He was extradited to the United States in August 2022.
Vinnik’s mother Vera told TASS that her son was now slowly adjusting to normal life. He has already reunited with his kids, who had grown during his absence, and even taken them to school despite his delayed arrival.
US national Marc Fogel, who had been convicted in Russia on drug smuggling charges, returned to his home country a short while ago. The Kremlin said that the prisoner swap represented a step towards enhancing mutual trust between Moscow and Washington.