Russian ‘agent’ Butina to be released from US jail

Washington, Oct. 24: Maria Butina, the redheaded gun advocate from Russia who built a network of high-level Republican contacts before being arrested for spying, is expected to return to her country after her Friday release from a Florida prison.

The only Russian arrested and convicted in the three-year investigation of Moscow’s interference in US politics, Butina parlayed ties with the NRA firearms lobby into a network that brought her into contact with

President Donald Trump before his 2016 election, as well as with one of his sons. She said she was on a quest to establish better relations between Russia and the US, and enrolled in university in Washington while living with a Republican operative. But she was arrested in July 2018 on allegations she was engaging in espionage, though she had no connection with Russia’s established spy agencies.

Butina entered a plea deal on a charge that she acted as an illegal, unregistered foreign agent, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, nearly half of which was credited as already served.

Under broader attack in the US for interfering in the 2016 election, Moscow made the Siberian native a cause-celebre, with the foreign ministry posting her picture prominently in its social media accounts, calling to “Free Maria.” Although she was not an employee of any of Moscow’s spy services, she knowingly took part in an operation to “spot and assess” potential US espionage targets.