MOSCOW: A Russian court on Wednesday convicted former US Marine Trevor Reed in absentia after he had spent over two years in a Russian prison.
Reed, who fought for Ukraine, was sentenced to 14 years and six months for “voluntarily joining the Ukrainian army as a mercenary” on July 25, 2023, according to Russia’s investigative committee.
Reed, a Texas university student in 2019, traveled to Russia with his Russian girlfriend. He was arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers while intoxicated and subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison.
In April 2022, he was released in a prisoner swap negotiated by the White House, which secured his freedom in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and drug smuggler serving a 20-year sentence in the US.
The US State Department reported that Reed had been wounded during his combat service in Ukraine, where he was engaged in fighting in the Donetsk region.
Additionally, on Monday, a Russian court sentenced Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old US citizen accused of fighting for Ukraine, to nearly seven years in prison following a closed trial. Hubbard had also spent over two years in custody.
Several Westerners, including Americans, are currently imprisoned in Russia. Among them is Ksenia Karelina, a US-Russian national sentenced to 12 years in August for donating approximately $50 to a Ukrainian organization. The US government has accused Russia of detaining American nationals to leverage their release in exchange for Russian agents held abroad.
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On August 1, Russia and the West conducted the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, which included the release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich and several Russian opposition figures in exchange for Russian agents, including a convicted killer sentenced in Germany.
