Russia on Thursday released US Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, who had been held in Kaliningrad for nine months, former US diplomat and hostage crisis negotiator Bill Richardson said.
Dudley was detained in April 2022 and is one of several US citizens whose release Richardson and US authorities have been trying to secure.
Dudley, 35, claimed to have wandered into Russian-owned Kaliningrad by accident from Poland, where he was attending a music festival.
A month ago, the United States secured the release of basketball player Brittney Greiner, imprisoned in Russia, in exchange for the arms dealer Victor Butt, imprisoned in the United States. The US claimed that the basketball player was detained without reason.
Greiner was accused of transporting illegal electronic cigarette cartridges with marijuana oil in her luggage in Russia. In Russia, this offense is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Unlike in the Greiner case, the U.S. and Russian governments did not publicize Dudley’s detention, and Washington did not publicly say that Dudley’s detention was unjustified.
Richardson did not say whether Dudley was released as a result of the trade.
He said that in the Dudley case, a team from the Richardson Center, which has helped free detained Americans in several countries, visited Moscow several times over the past year.
Richardson stated that the negotiations were carried out discreetly and that Dudley’s release was worked on in person in both Moscow and Kaliningrad.
“While we celebrate Taylor’s safe return, we remain deeply concerned for Paul Whelan and are committed to continuing to work towards his safe return,” Richardson said.
Former US Marine Wilan was arrested in Moscow in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage.
U.S. efforts to secure Whelan’s release at the same time as Grainer failed, as Russia demanded the release of Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to life in prison for murder in Germany.
