The Russian Foreign Ministry tweeted Wednesday after Russian national Mariia Butina was charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government, claiming that it was an FBI set-up to aggravate anti-Russia sentiment in the U.S.
#Zakharova: We are dismayed by the reported arrest of Russian citizen Maria Butina in the US on July 15. According to a statement on the website of the US Justice Department, she is charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of Russia without prior notification
— MFA Russia ?? (@mfa_russia) July 18, 2018
#Zakharova: It looks as if the FBI, instead of carrying out their responsibility of fighting crime, is implementing a political put-up job set to it by forces that are whipping up anti-Russia hysteria in the US
— MFA Russia ?? (@mfa_russia) July 18, 2018
Butina was arrested Sunday and is currently being held without bond ahead of her hearing Wednesday in D.C. federal court.