Trevor Reed, a Marine veteran President Joe Biden helped free from a Russian prison last year, has been injured fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Reed was injured while in battle and has since been transported to Germany, where he’s receiving medical care, deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said during Tuesday’s briefing.
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He allegedly suffered shrapnel wounds after stepping on a landmine about two weeks ago, the Messenger first reported.
“Since the beginning of this war, we have warned that U.S. citizens who traveled to Ukraine, especially with the purpose of participating in fighting there, that they face significant risks, including the risk of capture or death or physical harm as well. And so I want to be explicitly clear about something,” Patel added. “Mr. Reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government.”
The Biden administration has repeatedly warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Ukraine, regardless of their intent to join the war. Thousands of foreigners joined Ukraine's military shortly after Russia invaded in February 2022, but it's unclear exactly how many did as Reed and went to Ukraine to fight Russian forces.
Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on July 30, 2020, was released in a prisoner exchange for Russian drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko last April after more than two years behind bars. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained.
The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, which Congress passed in 2020, codified how the U.S. government handles international kidnappings and arrests.
The determining factors break down to whether there is information that the charges against an American could be trumped up, whether the person is being targeted for being an American, if they have their due process impeded or are held in "inhumane conditions," and whether the government behind the detainment is attempting to secure concessions from the United States.
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Biden agreed to a second prisoner swap last year, this one in December, which secured the release of WNBA athlete Brittney Griner. Griner, who had admitted to bringing vape cartridges into the country accidentally, was given a nine-year prison sentence months earlier, though the administration determined she was wrongfully detained. The U.S. gave up notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner.
Russia is currently holding Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, both of whom have been accused of spying for the U.S., which they deny. Gershkovich awaits his trial, while Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020. The administration considers both of them to be wrongfully detained.