On the same day that WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison, another American woman was deported from the county.
She'll be returning to California, according to reports.
Sarah Krivanek left Russia on a flight on Thursday and was expected to meet a friend in Los Angeles before driving back to Fresno, where the 46-year-old had lived and worked as an accountant before leaving for Russia in 2017.
Her release was not part of any prisoner swap, according to NBC.
Krivanek had been in prison for almost a year after being arrested at an airport in Moscow while trying to leave the country, according to People, which has been following the case for several months and profiled Krivanek's detention and release in a story on Thursday.
The arrest stemmed from a domestic dispute in which Krivanek had cut a man with whom she said she'd had an abusive relationship. According to People, the man later withdrew any charges, but Krivanek was told not to leave Moscow.
In subsequent news reports, friends of Krivanek said she had been working with the embassy to leave the country, but she was arrested before she could get on a plane. For several months they had no contact and didn't know where Krivanek was being detained.
In a story on DailyMail.com from August, the state department said it was aware of the case, but would give no specifics: "We can confirm the arrest of a U.S. citizen in Moscow in December 2021. We take our role in assisting U.S. citizens abroad seriously and are monitoring the situation."
Krivanek was being held in a penal colony where she "lived in a barracks of 40 women in a cell with eight other inmates in single bunks," and suffered multiple abuses at the hands of other prisoners, according to People.
Krivanek had to get a loan from the U.S. Embassy to pay for her trip home.
A GoFundMe has been started to help cover that cost and the necessary medical needs Krivanek will have once she is home, organizer Anita Martinez wrote in the campaign posting.
"After reading her story, I hope that you'll find it in your hearts to donate whatever you can to end this nightmare for Sarah."
