Former US Marine Trevor Reed, who was arrested in Russia and released in a prisoner swap between the two countries, has landed at his homeland, Reed’s spokesman said Thursday.
The place where the exMarine landed has not been identified.
American prisoner involved in trade with Russia boards plane
The negotiations became public on Wednesday when American student Trevor Reed was swapped for USimprisoned Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.
Shortly thereafter, when the exchange was made official, the US insisted on making it clear that its talks with Russia were for the sole purpose of releasing prisoners. The dialogue did not contain anything about the war situation in Ukraine.
1 of 1 Former US Marine greeted by local politician upon arrival in US Photo: Reproduction
Former US Marine greeted by local politicians upon arrival in the US Photo: Reproduction
A Russian court sentenced exMarine Trevor Reed to 9 years in prison in July 2020. Russia then claimed that he attacked two police officers. Trevor, on the other hand, said prison was political.
At the time of the hearing, Trevor’s father, Joey Reed, argued that none of the evidence presented by the Russian investigators was reliable and that it was a “corrupt” trial.
Recently, in March of this year, Trevor Reed announced a hunger strike because of how he was treated by prison guards. It became known that the case occurred during Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory.
Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling four tons of cocaine into the United States. He was arrested in Liberia in 2010 and extradited to the United States, where he was found guilty and sentenced in September 2011. Yaroshenko maintained his innocence, saying he hadn’t carried any cargo since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russia has criticized the US for failing to notify its consular services of the Russian citizen’s arrest and extradition, calling it a US governmentorganized “kidnapping” and a violation of international diplomatic laws.