WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Marine who was launched from Russia in a prisoner swap final yr has been injured whereas combating in Ukraine, the State Department stated Tuesday.

Trevor Reed was injured a number of weeks in the past, in keeping with an individual acquainted with the scenario who was not approved to debate the matter by identify and spoke to The Associated Press on situation of anonymity. He has been taken to Germany for medical care, stated State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.

Patel stated little about Reed‘s injury or presence in Ukraine beyond noting that he was not “engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government.” But Reed‘s decision to take up arms during Russia’s struggle with Ukraine doubtlessly complicates U.S. efforts to win the discharge of two different Americans nonetheless detained by Moscow, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and company safety government Paul Whelan.

His combating additionally risked a doubtlessly dire situation if he’d been captured and returned to Russian custody after the U.S. had labored to get him dwelling.

“As I indicated, we have been incredibly clear warning American citizens, American nationals, not to travel to Ukraine, let alone participate in fighting,” Patel stated. “As you know, we are not in a place to provide assistance to evacuate private U.S. citizens from Ukraine, including those Americans who may decide to travel to Ukraine to participate in fighting.”

The nature of Reed‘s damage was not instantly clear, however Patel stated he was transported out of Ukraine by a non-governmental group.

Reed was launched from Russian custody in an April 2022 prisoner swap in alternate for a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, who’d been serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

Reed was arrested in the summertime of 2019 after Russian authorities stated he assaulted an officer whereas being pushed by police to a police station following an evening of heavy ingesting. He was later sentenced to 9 years in jail.

The U.S. authorities described him as unjustly detained and pressed for his launch whereas his household has asserted his innocence. Relatives additionally had been involved about his deteriorating well being. At one level he stated he was coughing up blood whereas in custody. He additionally staged a starvation strike to protest the situations underneath which he was held.

The Messenger was first to report Reed‘s damage.

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Associated Press author Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

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