The arrest and detention Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko provoked cries of foul play from the Russian government, who said it was practically kidnapping and a violation of international law after the Americans failed to notify them.
However, it the truth seems closer to cock-up than conspiracy. “We just happened to send [the notice] to the wrong embassy. Normally we try to arrange these consular notifications within 72 hours and we didn't discover our error until it was after that period of time,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told journalists, RIA Novosti reported.
"We pressed the wrong button on the fax machine, to be brutally frank," he said, but refused to name which embassy actually received the notification.
The Moscow News
