Ex-Marine freed from Russia in 2022 prisoner exchange wounded in Ukraine

July 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. citizen and former Marine who was detained in Russia in 2019 before being released in an April 2022 prisoner exchange, has been wounded while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, according to the State Department.

Trevor Reed, 30, was arrested in 2019 for allegedly attacking a Russian police officer and sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020.

On Tuesday, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said, "We are aware that Trevor Reed was injured while participating in fighting in Ukraine."

Patel said Reed "was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government," and that he "has been transported to Germany and he is receiving medical care."

Patel warned that U.S. citizens who fight for Ukraine face extreme risks.

"As I indicated, we have been incredibly clear warning American citizens, American nationals not to travel to Ukraine, let alone participating in fighting," Patel said.

"Since the begging of this war, we have warned that U.S. citizens who traveled to Ukraine, especially with the purpose of participating in fighting there, that they face significant risks, including the risk of capture or death or physical harm," Patel added.

When Reed was sentenced in 2020, the U.S. government denounced the case against him as "preposterous."

"Today, U.S. citizen Trevor Reed was convicted in a Russian court following a trial in which the prosecution's case and the evidence presented against Mr. Reed were so preposterous that they provoked laughter in the courtroom. Even the judge laughed," then-U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan said in a statement at the time.

Ultimately Reed was exchanged for convicted cocaine smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a U.S. court in 2011.