Trevor Reed, the previous U.S. Marine who was detained in Russia for almost three years and later freed in a prisoner swap, was injured whereas preventing in Ukraine, the State Division mentioned on Tuesday.
Mr. Reed’s situation was not instantly clear. He’s receiving medical care in Germany, mentioned Vedant Patel, a State Division spokesman. The information of his damage was first reported by The Messenger.
Mr. Reed was visiting his Russian girlfriend in Moscow in August 2019 when he was arrested on what his household mentioned have been bogus prices of assaulting cops. The US thought of him wrongfully detained, and after months of diplomatic negotiations and mounting public stress on the Biden administration, Mr. Reed was freed in April 2022 as a part of a prisoner swap for a Russian pilot imprisoned on cocaine trafficking prices in the USA.
Mr. Reed’s choice to return to the area and change into a volunteer fighter for Ukraine created some “exasperation” inside the Biden administration, an administration official who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate delicate issues mentioned on Tuesday. The US has repeatedly warned Americans to not journey to Ukraine or take part within the battle, although untold numbers of them have achieved so anyway.
“I wish to be explicitly clear about one thing: Mr. Reed was not engaged in any actions on behalf of the U.S. authorities,” Mr. Patel mentioned at a information briefing, including that the nation was “not in a spot to offer help” to evacuate People who traveled to Ukraine.
A U.S. Protection Division official, who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate a delicate problem, mentioned on Tuesday that the USA was working with its companions and allies to handle Mr. Reed’s scenario, and the White Home press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, advised reporters that President Biden had been briefed on the matter. However Mr. Reed, now a non-public citizen, was transported to Germany by the assistance of an N.G.O. and never by U.S. authorities efforts, Mr. Patel mentioned. Citing privateness causes, he declined to specify whether or not Mr. Reed was being handled at a army or civilian hospital.
Mr. Reed’s launch final yr had renewed hopes for different People wrongfully detained in Russia, together with the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner, who was freed in December by a separate prisoner swap. Two different People who’re thought of wrongfully detained stay: Paul Whelan, additionally a former U.S. Marine, and Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Avenue Journal reporter.
Requested about considerations that Mr. Reed’s choice to combat in Ukraine might jeopardize negotiations to safe the liberty of Mr. Whelan and Mr. Gershkovich, Mr. Patel mentioned the USA would “proceed to have interaction instantly with the Russian Federation.”
