Russia has convicted Trevor Reed, a former US Marine, in absentia for fighting on behalf of Ukraine. This sentence comes after Reed spent over two years in a Russian prison before being released in a prisoner swap. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, Reed “voluntarily joined the Ukrainian army as a mercenary on July 25, 2023,” and was sentenced to 14 years and six months.
Reed’s journey to this point began in 2019 when he was arrested in Russia for assaulting law enforcement officers while intoxicated. He was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison. In April 2022, he was released in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the White House, where he was traded for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot and drug smuggler. The US State Department reported on July 26, 2023, that Reed had sustained injuries while fighting in Ukraine. The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed he had been involved in combat in the Donetsk region.
Reed’s conviction follows a similar sentence handed down to another US citizen, Stephen Hubbard, who was accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. Hubbard, a 72-year-old man, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison after being held in custody for over two years. His trial was conducted behind closed doors.
The recent convictions of Reed and Hubbard are part of a broader pattern of tensions between Russia and the West. The US has accused Moscow of imprisoning US nationals as leverage in prisoner exchanges, seeking the release of Russian agents detained abroad. In August 2023, Russia and the West engaged in the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, which saw the release of US reporter Evan Gershkovich and several Russian opposition figures in exchange for Russian agents, including a convicted killer.
