On Saturday, October 26, Maria Butina returned to Russia, who was released from the federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, the day before. The Russian woman spent in custody for more than a year and three on charges of conspiring to work as a foreign agent without proper registration with the US Department of Justice.
In the morning, dozens of journalists gathered at Sheremetyevo Airport, Russian diplomats, as well as relatives of the Russian woman, including her father Valery and Aunt Lyudmila.
“Butina’s meeting with her father today was just to tears, she was very strong. No pathetics, no pretense, ”said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
- Meeting at the airport
After a long-awaited meeting, Butins, accompanied by Foreign Ministry employees, headed for the exit from the airport customs control zone, where journalists were waiting for them.
Maria said that she was glad to return home, and thanked everyone who supported her.
“I did not give up because I have no right. I already said in one video that Russians don’t give up, ”Butina concluded.
We add that on October 26, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed its avatars on social networks. For 467 days - since the arrest of the Russian woman in the United States, a photograph of the girl was in the department’s accounts.
“Why did we do this? So that even at the very moment when they said to her: “Whoever remembers you there, they forget about you, who needs you,” she knew that if her photograph is on the front page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she will be remembered and will be remember until she lands in Moscow, ”Maria Zakharova explained.
According to her, the entire American system worked to ensure that the girl "broke down." She also promised a “surprise” by answering a question about whether the Foreign Ministry would make her a business proposal.
We add that after arriving in Moscow, Maria Butina became a guest at RT. Earlier, her father Valery indicated that RT is her daughter's favorite TV channel. During a trip to the TV channel, the girl said that her first days of imprisonment were “especially scary”.
- Road to RT Studio
“And then, when our diplomats began to bring me reports - they wrote about me here, RT wrote about me - for me it was very strong support, a breath of fresh air,” Butina added.
During Mary’s trip, Irina’s mother phoned by video. During the conversation, the girl could not hold back her tears.
- Conversation with mom
“I think that we should congratulate Maria Butina, her parents and relatives. We are all glad that she is back in her native land. I understand that this was a political reprisal against Maria Butina. For the future, we all will have a lesson that American justice works selectively: when necessary, it applies the highest scale of punishment, and when it is not beneficial for them, they don’t notice something. I am very glad that she has returned, ”said Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, RT.
“I am proud that I am a Russian woman”
Maria Butina also took part in a live broadcast of RT. In a conversation with host Yunan O'Neill, she also touched on American justice. According to her, what happened to her suggests that America is "losing its justice system."
“I don’t want to return there in the near future, because if you are a Russian in the USA, you should be worried,” she said.
She also talked about the first 117 days that she spent in solitary confinement. According to her, "it was a terrible experience."
“They tried to break the will, but I don’t know why. I don’t know any secrets, I’m just a student who believed in peaceful relations between our countries. I had no money, there was no conspiracy. It turns out that I myself was a conspirator. I did not engage in any illegal activities, there were no victims. My only crime is that I did not register. Is it okay to keep a person for four months in solitary confinement, and then for many more months for not submitting any documents. It seems to me that this is too much, ”Butina stated.
She also added that she had never been a spy, and expressed regret that in the United States, where they constantly talk about “gender equality”, they do not adhere to this principle.
“If I were not a woman, then there would not have been these sexual charges against me, but the US does not want to admit it,” she explained.
According to her, there was no reason for her detention. However, Butina explained why she made a deal with the investigation. The Russian woman emphasized that against the backdrop of the anti-Russian information campaign that had unfolded in the United States, the jury would have convicted and she would have received 15 years in prison. This is evidenced by statistics on sentencing against foreign agents, the girl added.
Butina noted that even on the day she ended her imprisonment, she did not know what would happen to her next.
“Everything that happened to me resembled“ Alice in Wonderland ”- such madness, unpredictability. I expected anything until the moment the plane landed in Moscow, ”the girl added.
In addition, Butina admitted that she was surprised when she received support from Russian diplomats just the day after the arrest. She emphasized that she was not a pro-government activist, but they fought for her because she is a citizen of the Russian Federation.
“I prefer to judge a person and a country by business, and it seems to me that my country has done everything to protect me. I am proud that I am a Russian woman, ”Butina said.