Trevor Reed lands on American soil in Texas after being freed in Russia prisoner swap
Trevor Reed lands on American soil in Texas after being freed from Russian prison in dramatic swap for drug dealer: Marine’s parents thank Biden for ‘saving their son’s life’
- Trevor Reed has landed back in the U.S., in Texas, after being freed in a surprise prisoner swap with Russia, his family said Thursday
- ‘It’s been very exciting day for the Reed family,’ his mother Paula tweeted . ‘Trevor is back in the USA’
- Trevor Reed had been detained in Russia since 2019
- US agreed to return Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut for smuggling drugs
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Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed has landed back in the U.S., in Texas, after being freed in a surprise prisoner swap with Russia.
Reed was detained in Russia in 2019. He was accused of assaulting a police officer while visiting his girlfriend in the country – something he has always denied.
After he arrived back on Thursday, his mother Paula tweeted: ‘It’s been very exciting day for the Reed family. Trevor is back in the USA.’
They had been pleading with President Biden to bring their son home for weeks.
In return for Reed’s freedom, the U.S. agreed to return Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut for smuggling drugs.
Trevor Reed arrives back in Texas on Thursday morning. He is shown with Rep. August Pfluger, who helped secure his release
Trevor reed (left) is shown arriving back in Texas at dawn this morning. He was freed in a dramatic prisoner swap. The Marine was jailed in Russia in 2019 while visiting a girlfriend. He was accused of assaulting a police officer but has always denied it
Dramatic video footage from Wednesday showed the moment the U.S. swapped Reed for Yaroshenko, which has been likened to a famed Cold War prisoner exchange on the so-called Bridge of Spies.
The clip was shot at a Turkish airport and saw Yaroshenko disembark an American private jet, accompanied by security personnel whose faces were pixelated.
He walked toward Russian officials waiting nearby with Reed.
Financial Times reporter Max Seddon, who was one of the people who shared the clip, said: ‘Real bridge of spies Cold War vibes.’
Bridge of Spies was a 2015 movie starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance and tells the story of US officials’ efforts to free Francis Gary Powers, a spy plane pilot shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.
He was successfully-exchanged for KGB spy Rudolf Abel on the Glienecke Bridge, which connects Potsdam to Berlin in Germany.
This is the moment former US Marine Trevor Reed was exchanged for convicted Russian drug dealer Konstantin Yaroshenko during a prisoner swap that took place at a Turkish airport on Wednesday
Footage posted online showed the moment Russian forces escorted Reed out of a dark-colored van Wednesday morning
In exchange for his release, the United States released Konstantin Yaroshenko (above), a smuggler serving 20-years in prison
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