BREAKING NEWS

Russia says Butina sentence in the U.S. is politically motivated

Russia's foreign ministry said on Friday that the sentencing of Russian citizen Maria Butina to 18 months in prison in the United States was "politically motivated."

Butina pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiring to act as a foreign agent. She had admitted conspiring with a Russian official to infiltrate a gun rights group and influence U.S. conservative activists and Republicans.

"Our countrywoman was sentenced only because she is a citizen of Russia," the ministry said in a statement.