Marine veteran Trevor Reed, released by Russia in prisoner swap, hurt while fighting in Ukraine

Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who was wrongfully detained in Russia for three years before he was released as part of a prisoner exchange last year, was injured while fighting in Ukraine, the State Department confirmed Tuesday.

"We are aware that Trevor Reed was injured while participating in fighting in Ukraine," deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a news conference. "Mr. Reed has been transported to Germany, and he is receiving medical care."

Patel did not say how Reed was injured or give his condition. Reed was transferred to Germany by a nongovernmental organization, which Patel did not name.

Reed is being treated at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, a defense official said.
Patel stressed that while he was in Ukraine, Reed "was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sidestepped questions about what effect the revelation that Reed had been fighting in Ukraine could have on the U.S. government's ability to bring home two Americans imprisoned in Russia — businessman Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
“What I can concede is that the teams are doing everything that we can, using every avenue that we can to bring Paul and Evan home," Jean-Pierre said.

Privately, a U.S. official said the government is “extremely concerned” about how the Reed situation will be seen in Moscow.

A Reed family spokesperson declined to comment on the reports.