January 1, US Marine Detained by Russia Faces Urgent Health Needs

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1946: Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri, popularizes the term and draws attention to the division of Europe.

Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed has been detained in Russia for more than two and a half years, and the situation has become more urgent than ever.

Amid a stalled push to secure his release, Reed’s health is rapidly deteriorating. His family fears he may have contracted tuberculosis in the remote penal colony where he’s been held without direct communication with his family for the past eight months.

“We are desperately worried about Trevor’s health — our son is out of time, and the [Biden] Administration needs to act now,” Joey and Paula Reed said in a statement.

After Reed, 30, had a close-contact tuberculosis exposure in December, he’s been coughing up blood several times a day, experiencing pain in his lungs, and believes he has a fever.

Reed’s family says that Russian authorities have declined to test him for tuberculosis or provide access to medicine, phone calls, or written communications with his attorneys in recent weeks.

Reed and another former Marine, Paul Whelan, have spent years in Russian custody on charges that their families and American officials say were fabricated by Russia to capture them as bargaining chips.

“For several months now, we have been asking for a meeting with our President. Our son’s job in the Marines was to take a bullet for then-VP Biden, and Trevor is now worried he’s been left behind by the government he’s spent his whole adult life serving,” Joey and Paula Reed said.

Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the two Americans’ detention and the possibility of a prisoner swap to free them at their summit in Switzerland last June, but a deal never materialized.

Reed’s family pleaded with President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden, adding, “From one set of military parents to another — we need your help. Only you can save his life!”

Source:

Amid war in Ukraine, US Marine detained by Russia faces urgent health needs