297 Tajiks to be deported from Russia

Russian officials said Friday 297 citizens of Tajikistan will soon be deported in retaliation for the imprisonment of a Russian pilot in Tajikistan. "All of them are illegal migrants staying at detention centers for foreign citizens," Russian immigration official Konstantin Romodanovsky told Russian news service ITAR-Tass. "Once the procedures are complete, the 297 citizens of Tajikistan will leave the territory of Russia." The move comes after Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichy and Estonian colleague Alexei Rudenko were sentenced Tuesday to eight and a half years in a Tajik prison for smuggling and border violations, Russian news agency Novosti reported. "The Tajik side expressed its readiness to resolve the situation to prevent the further aggravation of bilateral relations," said Vladimir Vaniyev, a counselor in the Russian Embassy in Tajikistan. The two Russians were arrested in March after being forced to land in Tajikistan on their way back from an aid mission to Afghanistan. Ground officials said the plane didn't have permission to fly in Tajik air space and based their smuggling charges on an unassembled engine they found on board the Russian plane.