Sixty-four Russians deported from the US reportedly landed in Moscow overnight on Tuesday, where some men were drafted upon their arrival.
The deportees were reportedly sent to Cairo first, along with others from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, before boarding a flight from there back to Russia.
Russian outlet Echo of Moscow, citing President of Russian America for Democracy in Russia Dmitry Valuev, confirmed that a flight carrying deportees had departed from Baltimore for Cairo on Monday, with Valuev subsequently confirming that the plane landed early morning on Tuesday.
Valuev said the deportees included rejected asylum seekers and those who violated US law, including overstaying their visas.
The New York Times reportedly wrote about the same flight.
Media Zone, another Russian outlet, said the plane from Cairo carried 64 Russian nationals, citing comments from the husband of one deportee.
Echo of Moscow said an unspecified number of deportees received military summons upon landing, while Media Zone said the deportees were held for several hours by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) before being released.
Another deportee’s wife, cited by Media Zone, said the plane landed at 2:39 a.m. Moscow time, but her husband was only released shortly after noon. She said deportees received their phones upon landing, but were not allowed to disembark and did not receive their documents for hours.
Media Zone, citing a report from the Russian Prosecutor General’s office, said one of the deportees is Zair Syamiullin, a man wanted for fraud.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office secured the deportation of Zair Syamiullin from the United States. In Russia, he is accused of fraud. He convinced an acquaintance to invest over 123 million rubles [$1.6 million] in supposedly profitable projects, but fled after receiving the money,” the report says.
“Upon arrival in Moscow, he was detained by law enforcement.”
In November, Ukraine also confirmed the return of 50 nationals deported from the US via Poland.