NEW YORK, October 8. /TASS/. Inga Yumasheva, a member of the Russian parliament’s lower house who was recently unlawfully questioned by the FBI, departed from New York to Moscow on Monday, a TASS correspondent reported from the JFK International Airport.
The State Duma lawmaker arrived to New York on Monday from San Francisco, California, where she took part in the Russian-US forum, the Fort Ross Dialogue.
According to the TASS correspondent, Yumasheva had no problems while checking in for her flight, undergoing passport control and waiting for the departure.
Her Aeroflot flight, SU-103, left New York at 19:16 local time (02:16 Moscow time on Tuesday) and is expected to arrive to the Russian capital on schedule, at 11:05 Moscow time on Tuesday.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said on October 5 that upon her arrival to the United States, Yumasheva was detained at the airport by FBI officers for interrogation, which lasted about an hour. Russia has sent a diplomatic note to the US Department of State, protesting against the move. The FBI rejected a TASS request for a comment.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin described the incident as "outrageous behavior from the side of the FBI and the US special services." He said the lawmaker, who is a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs and a coordinator of a parliamentary group in charge of ties with the US Congress, has made a significant contribution to developing relations between US Congress and the Russian State Duma in difficult conditions. According to him, the incident with Yumasheva may also be discussed by the State Duma Council, which will then consider introducing measures to avoid such situations in the future.
Yumasheva was elected to the State Duma through the federal list of the United Russia party and represents the Republic of Bashkortostan.