Russian citizen to be returned soon from the US: Kremlin

MOSCOW: A Russian citizen will be returned within days from the United States as part of an exchange deal with the US administration, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday without specifying the name.

The US is freeing a Russian citizen said to be the cybercrime boss, Alexander Vinnik, from prison in return for Moscow’s release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, US administration officials said on Wednesday.

A US-based lawyer for Vinnik confirmed on Thursday that Vinnik had landed in Turkey and was expected back in Russia within hours.

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The lawyer, Arkady Bukh, credited Vinnik’s release to a successful lobbying effort and the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency.

Vinnik pleaded guilty last year to US money laundering charges involving his role overseeing the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange