Vinnik told about psychological pressure on him during his detention in Greece

Alexander Vinnik, who returned to Russia from the United States after almost eight years of imprisonment, told Izvestia in an interview on February 18 about his detention in Greece in 2017.

According to him, he was arrested while vacationing on the beach, after which he was taken to his room in order to conduct a search. At the same time, his wife and children were kept on the beach, not allowing them to go to the toilet or eat. The Russian was then taken to a police station in the city of Thessaloniki and told only that he had been requested to the US.

"The next day already in the police, the prosecutor enlightened me a little more about the fact that there are some four charges against me in America," Vinnik added, noting that the essence of the charges was not explained to him, only saying that they are related to money laundering.

According to him, the documents were sent after two months, there was no evidentiary basis in them.

"The screenshots were already in the French case, which the Americans provided. Again, I wouldn't say it was my laptop as everyone claims. They just provided screenshots allegedly from my laptop," Vinnik said.

At the same time, Vinnik continued, he was psychologically influenced.

"In Greece, for example, all the police officers said, 'Oh, you're about to be taken away by the Americans, they're so strong, so you'd better go voluntarily, why should you resist,'" the Russian shared.

Recalling how he was to be transferred from France back to Greece, Vinnik said that during the transfer, an armored car drove up to the ramp of the French plane, in which five special forces put him.

"Bypassed the French plane, five meters literally, and pushed me to the ramp of the American plane, where already two FBI agents took me under the arms and took me on board," he said.

One for one: the United States released Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik

Former BTC-e programmer to return home as part of prisoner exchange

The release of Vinnik from prison after almost eight years of imprisonment became known on February 12. The Russian arrived in Moscow the next day. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called his return a joyful event for Russia and emphasized the unreasonableness of the Russian's imprisonment. Vinnik himself called his return a surprise and admitted that he missed his homeland.

In the United States, authorities accused Vinnik of laundering up to $9 billion through the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e (now defunct) and distributing malware for extortion. On February 15, the Russian lawyer Arkady Bukh told Izvestia that the U.S. prosecutor's office completely dropped the charges against Vinnik and now he has no criminal record.