July 25 (UPI) — The State Department has reported that Trevor Reed, a U.S. citizen and former Marine who was detained in Russia in 2019 and released in an April 2022 prisoner exchange, has sustained injuries while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
In 2019, Trevor Reed, who is now 30 years old, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a Russian police officer. In 2020, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
On Tuesday, Vedant Patel, the principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, stated, “We are aware that Trevor Reed was injured while participating in fighting in Ukraine.”
According to Patel, Reed was not acting on behalf of the U.S. government and has been transported to Germany for medical care.
Patel also issued a warning regarding the significant risks faced by U.S. citizens who choose to fight for Ukraine, urging them not to travel or participate in combat.
“Since the beginning of this war, we have consistently warned American citizens, specifically those traveling to Ukraine with the intention of participating in fighting, about the substantial risks they face, including capture, death, or physical harm,” Patel added.
When Reed was sentenced in 2020, the U.S. government dismissed the case against him as “preposterous.”
“Today, U.S. citizen Trevor Reed was convicted in a Russian court following a trial in which the prosecution’s case and the evidence presented against Mr. Reed were so preposterous that they provoked laughter in the courtroom. Even the judge laughed,” stated then-U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan at the time.
In the end, Reed was exchanged for convicted cocaine smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a U.S. court in 2011.
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