Russia Hopes US to Provide Jailed Pilot Yaroshenko With Medical Care

Russia hopes authorities in the United States provide jailed Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko with necessary medical care, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Yaroshenko's lawyer said earlier the pilot was unable to walk and experienced severe pain after an unscheduled surgery following health complications.

"We hope that the United States will continue to be attentive to the health complaints of the Russian citizen and provide him with medical care," Zakharova told the Rossiya-24 broadcaster.

She said Moscow had previously stressed to their US colleagues that Yaroshenko’s health concerns require medical attention.

"Now we see that he underwent surgery and we were correct after all in saying that his state of health required medical intervention," Zakharova noted.

The ministry’s special representative for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov, told RIA Novosti on Sunday the Russian Consulate in New York was coordinating with Yaroshenko’s lawyer to obtain additional information and determine further action.

Yaroshenko serves a 20-year prison term on 2011 drug smuggling charges, accusations he denies. He was detained in Liberia in a US sting operation and handed directly to US authorities in 2010, in violation of the diplomatic code.

He has suffered from health problems since 2014, and prison authorities have refused him access to Russian medical staff and resources.