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After nine months in prison: Former US soldier released from Russian custody

2023-01-13T01:32:16.579Z


Taylor Dudley spent nine months in prison in Russia. Now the former US soldier has been released. There was initially no question of an exchange.


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Ex-diplomat Bill Richardson: "Discrete" negotiations

Photo: SHANNON STAPLETON / Reuters

Russia has released a former US Marine after nine months in captivity.

Taylor Dudley was released Thursday at a border crossing between Poland and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, US negotiator and former diplomat Bill Richardson said.

The 35-year-old is "on his way home".

According to the US broadcaster CNN, after attending a music festival in Poland, Dudley traveled to Kaliningrad, where he was arrested in April.

Moscow and Washington had not made his arrest public.

Richardson made no mention of a prisoner exchange in connection with Dudley's release.

The negotiations in the case were "discreet".

It is "significant that the Russian authorities did the right thing by releasing Taylor today, despite the current situation between our two countries," Richardson said.

Concern for Paul Whelan

US State Department spokesman Ned Price did not explicitly confirm the release.

However, one knows of reports about an American who had been released from Russian captivity.

The release came a month after a prisoner swap between the US and Russia.

At that time, the US basketball player Brittney Griner was released from Russian custody.

In return, the United States allowed the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout to travel to Russia.

The fate of US citizen Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia, remains unclear.

"We remain deeply concerned for Paul Whelan and will remain committed to his safe return," Negotiator Richardson said Thursday.

The ex-soldier was arrested in Russia in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020 on charges of "espionage".

phw/AFP/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-01-13

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