NEW YORK — An American woman held in captivity in a Russian prison for most of this year says she was assaulted by an inmate and left without contact to the outside world.
Krivanek, who spoke to ABC News in an exclusive sit-down interview this week, was released Dec. 8, the same day that WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russian captivity.
The statement added,"U.S. Embassy Moscow provided assistance on the case of U.S. citizen Sarah Krivanek for more than a year. We monitored the case throughout the process, including attending deportation hearings. We coordinated with Russian authorities to facilitate Ms. Krivanek's safe return to the United States."
"I just fell into the system... at the wrong time," she said."Because it came on the heels of starting a war with Ukraine, they used this as leverage."In the penal colony, located in the remote Oblast region of Russia, Krivanek said she faced harsh conditions: The colony consisted of"old, run-down buildings from the Stalin era" where she said she was forced to work in an asbestos-laden factory.
Blocked from using the official prison phone system, Krivanek said she used a smuggled cell phone to call the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. She said her seven-minute call was redirected to Washington where she told an operator her name and where she was located. The signal was lost immediately afterward. Martinez, who lives outside Fresno, California, was also the last person to talk with her friend, having watched Krivanek get arrested on camera by Russian authorities when both women were on a FaceTime conversation together.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help Krivanek pay back the U.S. government loan, and Martinez has been helping her get medical care and therapy.
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