There are currently around 100 Russian nationals behind bars in US prisons and detention centers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexey Zaitsev said on Thursday, adding that Moscow has intensified contact with US authorities with regard to conditions of their detention amid the coronavirus pandemic
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2020) There are currently around 100 Russian nationals behind bars in US prisons and detention centers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexey Zaitsev said on Thursday, adding that Moscow has intensified contact with US authorities with regard to conditions of their detention amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Amid the coronavirus pandemic, we have activated work with the US authorities pursuing to support the jailed Russian nationals and protect their interests. We will continue seeking that Washington release the most vulnerable of the detained," Zaitsev said at a briefing.
According to the official, the authorities of US prisons are often reluctant to provide adequate health care to inmates, including those suffering serious chronic diseases, and therefore are having their lives endangered by the coronavirus. Zaitsev pointed to the shortage of face masks and gloves in US prisons and said that inmates with respiratory syndromes continued to be held in common cells.
"Only after the Russian embassy repeatedly reached out to the US authorities, many of [the Russian inmates] were provided with qualified medical assistance," the spokesman said, adding that the ministry continued to pay "close attention to the health and conditions of detention of convicted Russian nationals who awaited court decision."
The diplomat said there were presently around 100 Russian nationals kept in US jails and detention centers, with the majority of them implicated in non-violent crime.
