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Tourist in Russia Stumbles Into a Legal Predicament

MOSCOW, Aug. 25 — Two months ago, Roxana Contreras was exploring a provincial Russian town when a street vendor persuaded her to buy some Red Army medals and old ruble notes the day before she was to return to her home in St. Louis, she said.

Now she is stuck in Russia, mired in a legal and bureaucratic imbroglio, accused of trying to smuggle cultural treasures out of the country. Pending a court hearing, she has been ordered to remain in Voronezh, about 365 miles south of Moscow, where she had been visiting friends.
Read entire article at NYT