A former US Marine has been sentenced for acting as a mercenary in the ongoing Ukraine conflict. The case highlights the growing issue of foreign fighters in the war.
A Moscow court has sentenced former US Marine Trevor Reed in absentia for allegedly fighting as a mercenary for Kiev, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. Prior to his involvement in Ukraine, Reed had been released from Russian custody in 2022 through a prisoner exchange with the United States.
On Wednesday, Russia’s leading criminal investigation agency announced that Reed has been sentenced to 14 and a half years in prison and added to the international wanted list.
According to the committee’s statement, both the investigation and the court confirmed that Reed had traveled to Ukraine in late spring or early summer of 2023. On July 25th, he “voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a mercenary.”
Investigators stated that after receiving further training and military equipment in Ukraine, the former Marine participated in combat operations against Russian forces in the Donetsk People’s Republic and was regularly compensated for his services.
CNN reported that Reed was wounded in action and taken to Germany for medical treatment. The news site, The Messenger, which initially broke the story, stated that the former Marine had stepped on a land mine and sustained shrapnel injuries. They also noted he was among a group of mercenaries fighting for Ukraine at the time. This incident supposedly occurred approximately two weeks before his official enrollment date into the Ukrainian military.
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Washington has disassociated itself from Reed’s activities in Ukraine. According to a State Department spokesman, these actions were not conducted “on behalf of the US government” and contradicted its advice for US citizens to avoid traveling there.
Reed, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested in Moscow in August 2019 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. The following year, he faced charges including assaulting police officers and received a nine-year prison sentence from a Russian court.
In April 2022, he was released early in a swap deal where Washington freed Konstantin Yaroshenko. Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot, had been serving a 20-year sentence since 2010 in Connecticut prison after his arrest in Liberia on charges of allegedly conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States. He was subsequently transferred to US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) custody and clandestinely transported to American territory, contravening international law.
On Monday, the Moscow City Court sentenced 72-year-old U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard to an extended prison term after finding him guilty of serving as a mercenary for Kyiv. Having resided in Ukraine since 2014, he joined a territorial defense unit in Izium through a contract signed in February 2022. Reports indicate that Russian forces apprehended Hubbard two months later amid battles over the strategically important city.
