Russia freed this Thursday (12) Taylor Dudley, 35, a veteran of the US Navy who had been held since April last year at a checkpoint in Kaliningrad. The information was announced by Bill Richardson, former American ambassador to the UN.
According to lawyer Jonathan Franks, who represents families of Americans stranded abroad, Dudley was traveling as a tourist in Europe and was in Poland for a music festival when he crossed the border into Kaliningrad.
The Russian exclave, squeezed between Poland and Lithuania, is the Baltic Sea headquarters of Vladimir Putin’s country’s navy.
The conditions under which Dudley remained in Kaliningrad are unclear, and his case has not previously been publicized. The US State Department, responsible for Washington’s diplomacy, said it was aware of the deportation of a US citizen from Russia, but a spokesperson declined to comment further on the case, due to alleged privacy concerns.
In early December, American basketball player Brittney Griner was released by Moscow in exchange for Russian Viktor Bout, who was being held in the US. Griner had been arrested in February on charges of possession of hashish; Bout was convicted of arms trafficking.
Also a former governor of New Mexico, Richardson has been assisting in operations to free Americans detained abroad. He met Dudley at the border and worked the case for months, attorney Franks said in a statement from the Richardson Center.
“Negotiations and work to secure Taylor’s safe return were carried out quietly, with the participation of Moscow and Kaliningrad and the full support of his family in the US,” the organization said.
A representative of the US embassy in Warsaw was also present at Dudley’s release, according to Franks. The Richardson Center thanked US officials and manager Steve Menzies for helping to secure Dudley’s return.
Former American military man Paul Whelan, arrested in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage, remains in prison – he denies the allegations. “As we celebrate Taylor’s return, we remain very concerned about the fate of Paul Whelan and committed to working toward his return,” said Richardson.
In December, after Griner’s release, US President Joe Biden vowed never to abandon efforts to get the former soldier back. “Unfortunately, Moscow is treating Paul differently than Brittney,” he said at the time.
After returning to the US, the athlete asked her supporters to write messages of support for Whelan. “Her letters from her helped me not to lose hope when I was full of regrets and vulnerability in a way I never imagined,” said the Olympic medalist.
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