Maria Butina’s New Job? Maybe Advocating For Other Russians Held In U.S. Prisons

Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags, 200, 1807-2007

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – Nov. 19, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/maria-butina-s-new-job-russians-u-s-prisons/30281107.html) During and after the 15-month prison sentence she served after admitting to working as an unregistered foreign agent, Maria Butina complained about both her sentence — “this is absolutely absurd” — and her treatment in […]

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Butina incarcerated in U.S. losing weight due to prison food, long period of stress – newspaper

Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) – Russian citizen Maria Butina, who is incarcerated in the United States, has been losing weight because of the long period of stress and unhealthy food, yet her father Valery Butin hopes that Maria will be sentenced before April 15 and deported to Russia, the newspaper Izvestia said on Wednesday. “On the whole, Masha is alright, […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Butina finally given normal prison conditions in U.S. in terms of sleep, daily activities – father” – Interfax

Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) – Russian citizen Maria Butina, who was recently detained in the U.S., can now sleep normally, do physical exercises and talk to other detainees during the day now that her detention regime has been eased, her father Valeriy Butin said. “You may ask, what does the easing of custody regime mean? Firstly, now she can have […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: [Re: Maria Butina] – Fred Weir via facebook

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia file photo, adapted from image at dc.uscourts.gov

(Fred Weir [Christian Science Monitor] – Facebook – September 10, 2018) [Re: Maria Butina] [embedded live feed of tweet should load below; text also repasted further down, in case loading is delayed] OK, let’s leave the now-discredited sex thing aside, and just ponder this point. Suppose a foreigner — let’s say it’s me? — gets arrested in Russia and accused […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Maria Butina: Private Messages Reveal Accused Russian Spy’s True Ties to D.C. Wise Man” – Daily Beast/Betsy Woodruff

File Photo of Washington, D.C., Monuments and Environs at Twilight with Moon, Looking Across Potomac, adapted from image at nasa.gov by Steven C. Welsh :: www.stevencwelsh.com :: www.stevencwelsh.info

“…. The executive director of the organization, the Center for the National Interest, insisted that its interaction with Butina was ‘very limited.’ But previously unreported emails and direct messages between Butina and officials at the Center show her relationship with the think tank’s president – former Richard Nixon adviser Dimitri Simes – was closer than previously understood ….” Click here […]

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NEWSLINK: “It’s easier for Russia to recruit Americans today than it was during the Cold War; The spy game has changed, and is increasingly taking place in the daylight rather than in the shadows” – PoliticoEU/Alex Finley

Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“Mariia Butina wasn’t hiding. … The very brazenness of this makes some people doubt that it could really be part of an intelligence operation, especially one executed by Russia. After all, we’ve heard stories about Cold War KGB capers involving clandestine meetings and surreptitious missions. Back then, intelligence officers skulked quietly in government circles, hoping to use any number of […]

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NEWSLINK: “Putin’s Russia becomes Trump’s America” – Brookings/Elaine Kamarck

Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“I was nearing the end of Timothy Snyder’s new book, ‘Road to Unfreedom,’ when the headline came across my iPhone announcing that someone named Maria Butina had been arrested for being a Russian spy. I had to go back to page 250 and check the spelling. Sure enough, it was the same Maria Butina who appears in Snyder’s book in […]

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