This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/26/world/europe/maria-butina-russian-agent.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Maria Butina, Deported to Moscow, Is Defiant: ‘Russians Don’t Give Up’ | Maria Butina, Deported to Moscow, Is Defiant: ‘Russians Don’t Give Up’ |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MOSCOW — Maria Butina, the gun-loving Russian who befriended prominent Republicans during the 2016 presidential campaign and ended up imprisoned in Florida, landed in Moscow on Saturday, a day after she was deported. | MOSCOW — Maria Butina, the gun-loving Russian who befriended prominent Republicans during the 2016 presidential campaign and ended up imprisoned in Florida, landed in Moscow on Saturday, a day after she was deported. |
| She was welcomed with flowers off a flight from Miami at Moscow’s main international airport by her father, Valery, and Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. | She was welcomed with flowers off a flight from Miami at Moscow’s main international airport by her father, Valery, and Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. |
| Ms. Butina, who became embroiled in accusations of meddling in the 2016 American election and was imprisoned after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent, thanked Russian officials and the local news media for campaigning for her release. | |
| “I am very, very happy to be back home,” she told a throng of waiting journalists, adding, “As you know, Russians don’t give up.” | “I am very, very happy to be back home,” she told a throng of waiting journalists, adding, “As you know, Russians don’t give up.” |
| Her return to Russia was the top item on state news broadcasts, which celebrated her as an innocent victim of what Russia views as Cold War-style paranoia gripping the United States. | Her return to Russia was the top item on state news broadcasts, which celebrated her as an innocent victim of what Russia views as Cold War-style paranoia gripping the United States. |
| Aboard her return flight, Ms. Butina complained to Russian news outlets about prison conditions in the United States and said she had kept a detailed diary that she planned to turn into a “creative project.” | Aboard her return flight, Ms. Butina complained to Russian news outlets about prison conditions in the United States and said she had kept a detailed diary that she planned to turn into a “creative project.” |
| She said she had earned some money in prison by washing dishes and teaching fellow prisoners mathematics. | She said she had earned some money in prison by washing dishes and teaching fellow prisoners mathematics. |
| Ms. Butina, 30, a firearms advocate, pleaded guilty in December to a single charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent without registering with the Justice Department, as is required by law. But she and the Russian government have strenuously denied that she was ever involved in espionage. | Ms. Butina, 30, a firearms advocate, pleaded guilty in December to a single charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent without registering with the Justice Department, as is required by law. But she and the Russian government have strenuously denied that she was ever involved in espionage. |
| After initially comparing her to a character from a spy thriller, United States prosecutors backed off salacious accusations that Ms. Butina, a former graduate student at American University in Washington, had traded sex for access as part of a covert operation by Russian intelligence. | After initially comparing her to a character from a spy thriller, United States prosecutors backed off salacious accusations that Ms. Butina, a former graduate student at American University in Washington, had traded sex for access as part of a covert operation by Russian intelligence. |
| There is no evidence that she had any contact with Russia’s civilian or military intelligence agencies, though she did communicate extensively before her arrest with Alexander Torshin, a former Russian lawmaker and official who shared her interest in gun rights and in cultivating relations with the National Rifle Association. | There is no evidence that she had any contact with Russia’s civilian or military intelligence agencies, though she did communicate extensively before her arrest with Alexander Torshin, a former Russian lawmaker and official who shared her interest in gun rights and in cultivating relations with the National Rifle Association. |
| Ms. Butina’s case was widely seen in Russia as a miscarriage of justice driven by political turmoil in the United States, and the Foreign Ministry in Moscow seized on it as an example of what it sees as rampant “Russophobia.” | Ms. Butina’s case was widely seen in Russia as a miscarriage of justice driven by political turmoil in the United States, and the Foreign Ministry in Moscow seized on it as an example of what it sees as rampant “Russophobia.” |
| In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Ms. Butina had “spent 467 long days in American prisons on far-fetched accusations” and wished her a “speedy recovery of her strength after all the trials she has been through.” | In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Ms. Butina had “spent 467 long days in American prisons on far-fetched accusations” and wished her a “speedy recovery of her strength after all the trials she has been through.” |
| The ministry’s Twitter account had for months featured an image with the hashtag #FreeMariaButina. It continued to be displayed for three hours after her arrival in Russia before it was deleted. | The ministry’s Twitter account had for months featured an image with the hashtag #FreeMariaButina. It continued to be displayed for three hours after her arrival in Russia before it was deleted. |