Ex-marine Trevor Reed freed from jail in dramatic US-Russia prisoner swap

Moscow to release Reed in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, Russian pilot serving 20-year US prison term for drug trafficking

Russia and the US have carried out a dramatic prisoner exchange, trading a marine veteran jailed in Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, a senior US official and the Russian foreign ministry said.

The surprise deal would have been a notable diplomatic manoeuvre even in times of peace, but it was all the more extraordinary because it was completed as Russia's war with Ukraine has driven relations with the US to their lowest point in decades.