Russian prisoner data disappears from US database – RIA
Records of several Russian inmates held in US prisons are no longer accessible via the Federal Bureau of Prisons as of July 31, RIA Novosti has reported.
According to the news agency, data on at least four persons convicted in recent years is absent from the publicly available list. The people in question are Aleksandr Vinnik, Maksim Marchenko, Vadim Konoshenok, and Vladislav Klyushin, the outlet said. Data on other Russians held in US prisons is still available, it added.
Vinnik is a computer programmer arrested in Greece in 2017 on request by the US. Both Moscow and Washington, as well as Paris, requested his extradition on various charges ranging from fraud to hacking. In 2020, he was extradited to France but ended up in the US two years later, where he eventually pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit money laundering in May 2024.
Marchenko was arrested in the US in September 2023 on charges of purchasing dual-use microelectronics in violation of sanctions against Russia.
In February 2024, he pleaded guilty to illicitly procuring large quantities of US-manufactured dual-use “military-grade” microelectronics, according to the US Attorney Damian Williams. In July, he was sentenced to three years behind bars. His lawyer said at that time that the US government had “exaggerated the seriousness of what Mr. Marchenko did” resulting in an excessively harsh sentence.
Konoshenok was arrested at Estonia’s border with Russia carrying US-made high-tech electronics and ammunition in December 2022. Washington then demanded his extradition, which was granted in July 2023. He was also charged with violating the US sanctions. The man maintained he was innocent and described his case as politically motivated. He also told Russian diplomats about worsening detention conditions and a lack of medical aid back in November 2023.
Klyushin, a Russian businessman and owner of the Moscow-based information technology company M-13, was arrested in Switzerland during a ski trip in March 2021 and subsequently extradited to the US on charges of hacking US computer networks and trading inside information. He was found guilty by a federal jury in Boston on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud in February 2024.
The businessman’s lawyers argued that there was no evidence proving the guilt of their client. The real reason behind his prosecution was Washington’s desire to question him on his connections to the Russian government, they added, according to Reuters. One of the lawyers, Oliver Ciric, said that both the US and UK intelligence services had tried to recruit Klyushin in 2019.
RT could not find any information on the four men in the publicly available Federal Bureau of Prisons database. The US authorities, including the Department of State, have not commented on the issue in response to RIA Novosti’s request.
The news agency reported that the development came amid speculation in the Western media about a possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington. Russia has so far not officially commented on a possible swap.
