Why was Trevor Reed in Russia?

Trevor R. Reed is a United States Marine Corps veteran who was arrested in Russia in 2019 for violence against a Russian police officer. He was later sentenced to nine years in prison. His arrest has been criticized as motivated by political purposes.

What was Trevor Reed's reason for being in Russia?

Reed was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison colony in 2020, convicted on charges of violently assaulting two police officers in Moscow following a drunken party when he was visiting his girlfriend.

What was Trevor Reed experience in Russia?

For 985 days, Reed was held in a series of Russian prisons, thrown in isolation cells as small as a closet for 23 hours a day, placed in a psychiatric ward and sent to a forced labor camp he described as looking and feeling like something "out of medieval times.”

Why was Marc Fogel in Russia?

Marc Hilliard Fogel (born 1959) is an American schoolteacher who was arrested in August 2021 by Russian authorities for trying to enter Russia with 0.6 ounces (17 g) of medical marijuana. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Where was Trevor Reed stationed?

He was based at Camp Pendleton, California, at one point, was deployed to the Middle East and also served in the presidential guard, providing security at Camp David in Maryland when Barack Obama was president. He was photographed in uniform with Obama before being honorably discharged.

Trevor Reed describes conditions in Russian prison and fearing for his life

Why was Brittney in Russia?

star and two-time Olympic gold medalist who had been detained in Russia since February on drug charges, was released from custody on Dec. 8 in a prisoner swap with the United States. She had been found guilty in August of trying to smuggle illegal narcotics into Russia and was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony.

What is a Russian penal colony like?

“Overcrowding, abuse by guards and inmates, limited access to health care, food shortages, and inadequate sanitation were common in prisons, penal colonies, and other detention facilities.”

Is Marc Fogel married?

According to his sister, Fogel and his wife, Jane, had always enjoyed living abroad, and they spent the three decades before Fogel's arrest traveling around the world, teaching in international schools and raising their two sons, Sam and Ethan.

What US citizen is still being held in a Russian penal colony?

Still, the release of Brittney Griner has focused attention on two other U.S. citizens who are known to still be held in Russian penal colonies: Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel.

Who was the CIA agent caught in Russia?

He had spied for the Russians for nearly a decade. Aldrich Ames and his wife both pled guilty on April 28, 1994. Aldrich Ames was sentenced to incarceration for life without the possibility of parole. Rosario Ames was sentenced on October 20, 1994 to 63 months in prison.

Who is the red head spy from Russia?

Anna Vasilyevna Chapman (Russian: А́нна Васи́льевна Ча́пман; born Anna Vasilyevna Kushchenko on 23 February 1982) is a Russian intelligence agent, media personality and model who was arrested in the United States on 27 June 2010 as part of the Illegals Program spy ring.

Who accused Moscow of forcibly removing civilians to Russia?

Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine's ombudswoman, has accused Moscow of forcibly removing hundreds of thousands of civilians from obliterated Ukrainian cities to Russia to put pressure on Kyiv to surrender.

What was Trevor Reed's job in the Marine Corps?

Reed had been a Marine Presidential Guard. During the Obama administration, he was tasked with the protection of then Vice President Joe Biden at Camp David. Reed was discharged from the Marines in 2016.

Are there female penal colonies in Russia?

Female Penal Colony IK-2 is located in Mordovia's western rural county Zubova Polyana, and is one of at least 15 correctional colonies in what Pallot called a penal fiefdom. “This region was first formed in 1930 and was one of the first Gulag camps,” Pallot said.

Were there any Americans in Russian gulags?

Among the factors that influenced the Cold War were the detention of several hundred Americans in Gulags, in addition to the obstacles in returning some 2,000 American POWs out of an estimated 75,000 who ended up in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany by 1945, as well as the reunification of Soviet wives with their ...

Can Russians leave the country without permission?

The new 1993 constitution guaranteed Russian citizens the right to freely leave the country, and to return just as freely. With this opening of the floodgates, millions of Russians rushed out to meet the world.

Why was Paul Whelan in Russia?

Whelan's twin brother David said Whelan arrived in Moscow on December 22 to attend the wedding of a former fellow Marine at the Hotel Metropol Moscow and to assist the groom's family members on their first visit to Russia, a country he had visited many times.

What was the harshest Russian penal colony?

“Prisons in Mordovia are notoriously terrible, even by Russian standards. The prisons there are known for the harsh regimes and human rights violations,” said Olga Zeveleva, a sociologist at the University of Helsinki who specialises in Russian prison conditions as part of the Gulag Echoes project.

What happens to prisoners in Russia?

Penal colonies in Russia are infamous for their harsh living conditions and brutality. Prisoners are placed in barracks rather than individual cells, where they are forced to perform daily work. Colonies also have tougher security measures and more restrictions on movement.

What is the largest penal colony in the world?

Rikers Island has been referred to as the world's largest penal colony.

Why did Brittney Griner cut her hair?

According to ESPN's T.J. Quinn, it was Griner's decision to cut her hair. One of Griner's lawyers, Maria Blagovolina, told Quinn that Griner's hair would freeze when wet as the Russian winter got colder, so she decided to cut it to make life in prison easier.

Is hash oil illegal in Russia?

Penalties If Caught

The use, possession, sale, cultivation, and transportation of cannabis are illegal under Russian law. Penalties for these offenses can range from a monetary fine to up to 15 years in prison.

How many years did Brittney get?

The WNBA star was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges. Griner was freed after the U.S. and Russia agreed to a prisoner swap.