Jailed Russian Pilot Yaroshenko Needs General Health Check

Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is in a US prison on drug smuggling charges, urgently needs a general check-up after his health deteriorated, a Russian human rights ombudsman said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In a written interview with Sputnik, Yaroshenko accused authorities at New Jersey’s Fort Dix prison of denying him prescribed post-operation medicines and painkillers after he had undergone surgery in January.

"We’ll keep up the pressure on the US authorities to have him examined by qualified doctors with the help of Russian-speaking specialists. It’s well past time. His health has been a concern for a while now," Konstantin Dolgov, a special representative for human rights at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, told RIA Novosti.

Dolgov said he consulted Yaroshenko’s attorney who confirmed the Russian national had serious problems with heath after the surgery. Yaroshenko also told Sputnik that the operation had not been performed "properly."

Yaroshenko was detained in Liberia in 2010 during a US sting operation conducted in West Africa. He was transferred to the United States and sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of smuggling cocaine. He first complained about poor health in 2014.

Russian authorities have repeatedly expressed concern over the circumstances of Yaroshenko's arrest and the poor conditions of his detention. In 2012, Moscow sent a request to the United States to transfer Yaroshenko to Russia, but the request was denied.