Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed who was wrongfully detained in Russia for three years before his release in a prisoner exchange, has been wounded while fighting in Ukraine.
Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the State Department, said Tuesday that Reed “was injured while participating in fighting in Ukraine since the beginning of this war.”
Patel said Reed “was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government,” and reiterated that the U.S. government has “been incredibly clear warning American citizens, American nationals not to travel to Ukraine, let alone participate in fighting there.”
“We have warned that U.S. citizens who travel 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,” Patel said.
UN ACCUSES RUSSIA OF ‘ESCALATION,’ POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES OVER DESTRUCTION OF UKRAINIAN CULTURAL SITES
Joe Reed, the father of Marine veteran Trevor Reed, stands next to a placard of his son outside the U.S. Capitol on July 29, 2021, during a press conference. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Patel said that through the support of an NGO the government has learned that Reed has been transported to Germany and he is receiving medical care.
In April 2022, Reed was released from a Russian prison after serving roughly three years in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian drug trafficker who was serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in Connecticut.
Reed, a now-31-year-old Marine Corps veteran and former presidential security guard, had been living in Russia in the summer of 2019 when he was arrested by Russian police and accused of assaulting a police officer.
Trevor Reed landed in Texas, April 28, 2022, after a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia. (Rep. August Pfluger)
Reed had been celebrating in a park with his longtime Russian girlfriend and her colleagues at the time, Joey Reed told Fox News Digital last year.
Following a public trial, Reed was convicted in July 2020 of assaulting police officers.
Trevor Reed, charged with attacking police, stands inside a defendant’s cage during his verdict hearing at Moscows Golovinsky district court on July 30, 2020. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP)
Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison, though his family maintained his innocence and the U.S. government described him as unjustly detained.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.
