Russia and the United States exchanged two high-profile prisoners on Wednesday. A imprisoned American ex-soldier has been released from Russian prison in exchange for a Russian pilot.
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The maneuver is particularly remarkable due to the very tense relations between the countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Russia has released Trevor Reed, a former Marine who was arrested by Russian police in the summer of 2019 for attacking a police officer after a city trip. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, but claims his innocence. US authorities have previously been involved in the case.
The United States in turn releases Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot. He is serving a 20-year prison sentence for participating in a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine to the United States. He was arrested in Liberia in 2010 and later extradited to the United States. Russia has long called for his release.
The two prisoners were exchanged in a European country.
“I heard in my parents’ voice how worried they were about his health and missed his presence,” US President Joe Biden wrote in a statement.
– The negotiations that opened the way for Trevor to return home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly, the president continues.
There are several Americans imprisoned in Russia, including basketball star Brittney Griner and business director Paul Whelan. It is unclear how their status is affected by the prisoner exchange.
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