Russian Pilot Yaroshenko Jailed in US Says He Asked Trump for Return

Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, imprisoned in the United States, told the Izvestia newspaper on Wednesday that he has wrote a letter to US President Donald Trump and asked him for a transfer to Russia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — “This appeal to Donald Trump is last my chance to return to Russia while I am sane. I hope that the US president would show humanity and mercy and will be able to transfer me to the Russian authorities,” Yaroshenko told the newspaper.

The letter was delivered to the White House through the Russian embassy in Washington on Tuesday, according to the newspaper,

In a letter, the Russian pilot stressed that his stay in the US prison is complicated by the language barriers as he is not able to understand the orders of the staff and properly convey his health issues to the doctors.

Yaroshenko noted that it is very important for him  to see his daughter and wife, who are heartbroken by his unjustified imprisonment as his mother, Lyubov, died on May 7 and had never been able to meet her son again after his imprisonment.

According to the newspaper, Yaroshenko’s daughter and wife also wrote letter to the US president.

On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the newspaper that Moscow deeply regrets the US refusal to transfer Yaroshenko to Russia.

Yaroshenko, sentenced to prison for conspiring to import more than $100 million worth of cocaine into the United States, was arrested in Liberia in 2010 and handed over to the US authorities. The pilot has claimed he was mistreated while in US custody, while his health suffered significantly as he is denied proper medical care.