ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 16. /TASS/. Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, jailed in the US for drug smuggling, has addressed the head of the correctional facility with a request for an additional medical check-up, the pilot’s wife Viktoria Yaroshenko informed TASS, adding that her husband’s health has not improved.

"[The previous] check-up showed that there are no issues with his liver and stomach, yet his condition is not improving, and he [Yaroshenko — TASS] has requested an additional check-up to establish the causes of his stomach pains," the pilot’s wife said. According to her, there has been no response so far from the head of the correctional facility where Yaroshenko is being held.

The Russian pilot continues to suffer from arthritis, his wife informed. "He is requesting a check-up, a prescription for some drugs for arthritis, some painkillers, because the pain is so intense," she added.

Viktoria Yaroshenko also noted that her husband had complained of tough prison conditions. "It’s hot, there are 100 people in one cell, he’s saying that he can’t breathe," she stated.

Earlier, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova informed that she had addressed the US officials with the request to extradite Yaroshenko to Russia due to his deteriorating health condition.

Yaroshenko’s case

Konstantin Yaroshenko was convicted in the United States on September 7, 2011 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He pled not guilty and described his arrest as a provocation and the whole case as a frame-up. Yaroshenko was brought to the United States from Liberia, where he was arrested on May 28, 2010. Agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration allegedly exposed Yaroshenko’s criminal intent to transport a large batch of cocaine.

The Russian authorities and the pilot’s family in Rostov-on-Don have repeatedly approached the US authorities for Yaroshenko’s handover to Russia.