Russian Konstantin Yaroshenko, sentenced in the United States to 20 years in prison, was exchanged for an American student Trevor Reed, who was sentenced in Russia to 9 years in prison. This was reported by Interfax , announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry, without specifying the details.

According to Yaroshenko’s wife, the exchange took place in Turkey. Russian television showed how Reid was taken to Vnukovo airport and boarded the plane. Yaroshenko has already arrived in Sochi from Turkey, his wife said.

Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 on suspicion of preparing to transport cocaine and taken to the United States. An arrest warrant was issued by a US court. Russia then stated that the arrest of a Russian citizen in a third country and his deportation to the United States grossly violated international norms. In 2011, Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty.

There have been repeated reports that Yaroshenko could be exchanged for this or that foreign citizen arrested or convicted in Russia.

Trevor Reed, a student from Texas who was in Russia on a tourist visa, was detained in August 2019 due to a loud quarrel with two girls on the Leningradskoe highway. According to the prosecution, the American resisted the arrest, and in the patrol car he attacked the driver, tearing his uniform, and hit his partner. In July 2020, he was sentenced to nine years in prison.

(C)MEDUZA 2022