Reed, Yaroshenko freed in Russia, U.S prisoner swap deal

Admin l Wednesday, April 27, 2022

 

WASHINGTON – The Kremlin and the White House have successfully executive a prison swap deal despite tension between the  two  that saw the release of Russian Pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko from U. S detention, while Trevor Reed,  a United States Marine was released from Russian gulag.

Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian military pilot was serving a 20 year jail term for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, while  Trevor Reed  has been in  detention in  Russia since 2019 on drug charges.

Fears that Trevor Reed will ever return to the U.S became reef when his family staged a protest in front of the Whitehouse .

Speaking on the development,  Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken  said he is pleased to announce the release of U.S. citizen Trevor Reed.

According to him, Reed was wrongfully detained in Russia. “We extend our deep appreciation to our many allies and partners who helped us in this effort. I also wish to commend Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Ambassador Carstens, Ambassador John Sullivan, and others in our government who have worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome.

“We welcome this important release, while continuing to call for the release of wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan.

“We also remain committed to securing the freedom of all U.S. nationals wrongfully detained abroad”, he said.