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WASHINGTON — Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who was wrongfully detained in Russia for three years before being 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, but Patel did not name that organization.
Reed is being treated at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, a Defense official told NBC News.
While in Ukraine, Reed “was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government,” Patel stressed.
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 ability of the U.S. government 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 told NBC News the government is “extremely concerned” about how the Reed situation will be seen in Moscow.
Reached by NBC News, a Reed family spokesperson declined to comment on the reports.
Reed was arrested in the summer of 2019 in Moscow after Russian authorities said he assaulted an officer while being driven to a police station following a night of heavy drinking.
Reed, his Russian girlfriend and his family denied the charges. The U.S. ambassador to Russia called the evidence flimsy.
Despite those objections, Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Reed was released in April 2022 in exchange for Russian drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.
It was not immediately clear when Reed traveled to Ukraine or how he came to be fighting there.
“Since the beginning of this war, we have warned that U.S. citizens who travel to Ukraine, especially for 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.
Whelan, the American businessman imprisoned in Russia, said in a statement Tuesday that he was sorry to hear Reed has been injured.
“But a hostage’s release isn’t an end point. They have to live with the aftermath after the hostage takers and others move on. I can’t imagine the anger, vengeance, and grief they must feel,” Whelan said. “I hope he finds some peace now.”
Whelan has been jailed in Russia since December 2018. Russia charged him with espionage, which he and the U.S. government deny. Russia in 2020 sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The State Department says he is wrongfully detained.
Reed after his release advocated for the release of Whelan and basketball star Brittney Griner, who was also sentenced to prison in Russia. Griner was freed in an exchange between Russia and the U.S. in December.
Reed enlisted in the Marines as an infantryman in 2011. During the Obama administration, Reed was a member of a Marine unit that provides presidential support.
Among other things, Reed protected then-Vice President Joe Biden at Camp David, according to his family. Reed was discharged from the Marines in 2016.
Julia Jester and Peter Alexander reported from Washington. Corky Siemaszko reported from New York.
Peter Alexander and Hayley Walker contributed.
