Mariia Butina arrived in Moscow, Russia on Saturday following her deportation and 18-month stint in prison for her failure to register as a foreign agent.
ICE announced on Friday night that its agents had escorted Butina to an airport in Miami.
“Mariia Valeryevna Butina departed from Miami International Airport on a direct flight to Moscow at approximately 6 p.m. EDT,” ICE said in a statement.
“I would like to thank the Russian Foreign Ministry and every diplomat who fought hard for me,” Butina told Russia media upon her arrival in Moscow, per the Daily Beast. “I did not give up because I knew I could not do that.”
“As I said in one of my videos: the Russians never give up,” said the Russian agent, who pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy in December 2018 after initially pleading not guilty.
The FBI arrested Butina in July 2018 in their investigation into her dealings with the National Rifle Association, which she had infiltrated to plant herself in GOP circles. She was handed an 18-month prison sentence, which took into account the months she had already served after her arrest.
