“The accusatory bias and the attempt to deliberately create the illusion of illegal actions by a Russian citizen were obvious from the very beginning. All that we know from the press, its so-called confessions, it only speaks of unprecedented pressure on justice in the conditions of total Russophobic sentiment when it is necessary to add another portion of gasoline to the fire, ”the senator believes.
Earlier, a US court sentenced Butin to 18 months in prison for "conspiring to work illegally for the Russian government."
The Russian woman was detained in July 2018 on suspicion of "working for Russia as an agent." She made a deal with the investigation and pleaded guilty to conspiring to work illegally on the Russian government.