ROSTOV-ON-DON, December 30. /TASS/: Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a 20-year sentence in the US, will receive a set of Russian newspapers and magazines as a New Year’s gift, his wife Viktoria told TASS.
"We would like him to receive the parcel before the holidays as he has been looking forward to reading Russian newspapers and magazines. He says when he gets them, he stays awake all night to read them through and re-reads everything ten times because he misses the Russian media," the pilot’s wife said.
Viktoria noted that Yaroshenko had already received one parcel and was waiting for another one to arrive.
According to the wife, Yaroshenko is eager to know about progress in the case of Paul Whelan, an American charged with espionage in Russia. "Let’s hope that the issue will be resolved soon. I have a hope that as soon as the Whelan case is resolved, Konstantin’s case will be resolved, too," Viktoria said.
Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010, and was later clandestinely transferred to the United States. In September 2011, he was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle a major cocaine shipment into the US, and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. However, Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty, saying that his arrest was a setup and the case was fabricated.
