Trevor Reed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia and the United States have exchanged prisoners. A senior U.S. official and the Russian foreign ministry say Russia released a Marine veteran jailed in Moscow while the U.S. released a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a prison sentence in Connecticut.
Wednesday’s surprise exchange was done as Russia’s war with Ukraine has driven relations with the U.S. to their lowest point in decades. Russia gave up Trevor Reed, a Marine from Texas arrested in 2019 after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer.
The U.S. agreed to return Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who’d been serving a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. Reed’s family thanks President Joe Biden.
“Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.”