Russia releases former US Marine vet Trevor Reed as part of prisoner exchange

Russia and the United States have always been at each other’s throats. In the recent dramatic prisoner exchange, Russia traded Trevor Reed, who was jailed in Moscow, for a Russian drug trafficker imprisoned in the US.

This prisoner exchange deal is considered a surprise because Russia and the United States’ relationship is already at the lowest point due to the Russia and Ukraine war. The US lent support to Ukraine and condemned Russia on global platforms in the war.

As a part of the exchange, the Russian jail authorities released the US Marine vet Trevor Reed of Texas, who was arrested in Moscow in 2019 summers. As per the authorities of Russia, Trevor Reed was arrested for assaulting an officer while he was being brought to the police station by a police officer on a charge of excessive drinking. Then, he was sentenced to 9 years of prison in the Russian courthouse. The US government demanded Russia free him and called him “unjustly detained”.


Reed’s family exhaled a sigh of relief and said that their prayers were finally answered, as Trevor Reed was finally on his way to the United States and free from Russian detention.

Russia was continuously asking the United States to release Konstantin Yaroshenko but rejected the release plea of Trevor Reed. Reed was nearing 1000-day of imprisonment with deteriorating health.

This prisoner exchange is the highest-profile release of an American wrongly detained aboard during the Biden presidency.

Trevor Reed is not the first American to be detained by Russia; several other Americans have been wrongly incarcerated by Russia in the past. In February, Brittney Grinner, the WNBA star, was detained after the authorities found a cannabis derivative in her bag. It is unclear whether this prisoner exchange will impact her release.

What was Joe Biden’s role in Trevor Reed’s release?

On Wednesday morning, in his statement, Joe Biden, the US President, said that the negotiations which happened to bring Trevor Reed back home were complicated and not something to take lightly. In March, Biden met Trevor Reed’s parents and assured them that he would bring their son back safely. When Biden was on a presidential visit to Texas, Trevor Reed’s parents stood outside the White House for a meeting with Biden and drew his attention. After seeing how his parents were worried for their son and missed his presence, Biden decided to talk with Russia and do something for Trevor Reed. Reed’s family thanked Biden for taking the big decision to bring back their son.

How did the swap of the two prisoners happen?

• Trevor Reed and Konstantin Yaroshenko were swapped in a European country.
• The officials did not disclose the exact place of exchange.
• Hours before the exchange took place; commercial flight trackers recognized the federal security service plane from Russia was flying to Turkey.
• Even overnight, the US Bureau of Prisons’ website showed that Konstantin Yaroshenko is no longer a prisoner of the US jail.