US swaps Russian pilot for former marine

A FORMER US marine who has been held in Russia since 2019 has been released in an unexpected prisoner exchange for a Russian pilot.

President Joe Biden said the negotiations involved in freeing Trevor Reed “required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly”, amid frosty relations between Moscow and Washington over the war in Ukraine.

“I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they’ve worried about his health and missed his presence. And I was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom,” Mr Biden said.

Images released by Russian state television showed Mr Reed escorted on to a plane at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.

Mr Reed, 30, a student and former marine from Texas, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 by a Russian court after allegedly attacking police officers while drunk.

He was visiting his Russian girlfriend in 2019 when he attended a party where he drank a large amount of vodka, his family said. Police were called and he was taken into custody. His girlfriend learned Reed was interviewed by members of Russia’s security service, the FSB, without a lawyer while he was still under the influence, his family said.

Moscow said that it has exchanged Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who in 2011 was convicted in the United States for drug smuggling.

“Our family has been living a nightmare. Today, our prayers have been answered,” Reed’s family said.