Jailed Russian pilot Yaroshenko appeals to US prison authorities for urgent medical help

The physical condition of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, jailed in the US for 20 years after a DEA sting operation, keeps deteriorating, with the man barely able to walk and suffering digestive system problems.

Yaroshenko was detained in Liberia in 2010, then secretly moved to the US, in violation of international law. An American judge than handed him a lengthy sentence on accusations of “conspiring” to smuggle a large batch of South American cocaine. The pilot has always maintained his innocence and repeatedly complained about the harsh conditions and lack of medical care he got in US prison.

In his new letter to the administration of the Danbury prison in Connecticut, Yaroshenko said that he suffered from acute arthritis, which developed as a result of several days of torture after his arrest in Liberia.

The lack of treatment and a belatedly diagnosed leg fracture has resulted in him barely being able to walk, and only with a constant limp.

The pilot also told Izvestia newspaper that he had serious problems with his digestive system, saying: “I feel strong pain. I can’t eat and experience nausea all the time.”

Yaroshenko asked the prison authorities to urgently provide him with an examination by a doctor and with the required medical care.

In the wake of Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Osaka in early July, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov suggested that Moscow and Washington could start mending their relations “with something that doesn’t require dramatic decisions with longstanding changes to policies,” like swapping Yaroshenko for a US citizen serving time in Russia.

However, there has been no comment so far from the US side on the idea.The pilot himself said that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the possibility of him finally coming back to Russia.

Yaroshenko’s wife, who lives in Russia, told the paper that her husband was “very sick and being in his own country, even in detention, would’ve been a lot easier for him morally … A man needs a family. And it must be near him when such an unjust thing as a prison sentence in a frame-up case is taking place.”

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!