Russia demands US release Maria Butina, calling spy charges false

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart Mike Pompeo on Saturday that the arrest of a Russian gun rights enthusiast on espionage charges in the United States was “unacceptable”, his ministry said.

US prosecutors say Maria Butina, 29, exploited her close links with the powerful NRA gun lobby while posing as a visiting graduate student to endear herself with senior Republicans, guided by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s major political supporters, Alexander Torshin.

She was charged this week in Washington of acting illegally as an unregistered agent for the Russian government while she lived in Washington over the past three years with her boyfriend, a veteran Republican operative.

In a telephone call with Pompeo, Lavrov “stressed that the actions of American authorities who arrested the Russian citizen Butina based on false accusations is totally unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov said Butina must be released “as soon as possible”, according to the statement.