Must have been more than a drug dealer...

Trevor Reed released from Russia in prisoner swap

The former U.S. Marine was traded for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and convicted drug trafficker.

By QUINT FORGEY

Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine from Texas who was detained in Moscow, has been released and returned to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia.

In return for Reed, the U.S. agreed to release Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and convicted drug trafficker serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut, according to Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reed was arrested in Moscow in 2019 after a night of drinking and was sentenced to nine years in prison on assault charges for what the Russian authorities described as endangering the “life and health” of local police officers.

President Joe Biden, who met with Reed’s parents last month after they demonstrated outside the White House, confirmed the news of Reed’s release in a statement on Wednesday.

“I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they’ve worried about his health and missed his presence,” Biden said. “And I was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.”

In his statement, Biden thanked Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan and “many others across our government to ensure that Trevor came home safely.”

“The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly,” Biden said. “His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad.”

Biden also said his administration would continue to work to secure the release of Paul Whelan, another former U.S. Marine who is detained in Russia. Whelan was arrested in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.

“We won’t stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends,” Biden said.

In his own statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the “many allies and partners who helped us” in the effort to secure Reed’s release, and he said the administration remains “committed to securing the freedom of all U.S. nationals wrongfully detained abroad.”