Dzhokhar Tells Mother: 'I Am Absolutely Fine'

(Newser) – The mother of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spoke to her son for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings, and she recounts to Bloomberg the salient line:

• “He said: ‘I am absolutely fine, my wounds are healing. Everything is in God’s hands. Be patient. Everything will be fine.’”

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva offered her own assessment after the six-minute call. “Mentally he is normal, but the child is shocked.” And she added a line that won't win her much sympathy around Boston: "I know he is locked up like a dog, like an animal." Tsarnaeva, who is in Russia's Dagestan region, says she has been promised one call per month. (Read more Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stories.)