The Kremlin on Friday condemned the arrest of two Russians, including the son of a high-ranking official, at a U.S. request in Europe for alleged sanctions evasion and the illegal sale of U.S. technology to Russian arms firms.
“We categorically oppose this and condemn the practice of this kind of arrest of Russian citizens,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, adding that Moscow will do “whatever possible” to protect them. “That’s it,” he added.
Moscow confirmed Thursday that Artyom Us, whose father is the governor of the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport this week at the request of the United States.
“Our diplomatic mission will naturally participate in protecting the interests of this Russian citizen,” Peskov said.
On Wednesday, the US Justice Department announced that it had indicted 12 people, including five Russians, for illegally plotting to export “potent” US military technology to the United States. Russia.
Some of these were “discovered on Ukrainian battlefields,” he said.
Another Russian citizen was also arrested in Germany on October 17 at the request of the United States.
