Who are the Americans still in Russian custody? – UK Times

Russia has released an American teacher imprisoned over what his family said was prescribed medical marijuana, but several other Americans remain in Russian custody.

Teacher Marc Fogel was released in what the White House described Tuesday as a diplomatic thaw. Fogel was arrested in August 2021 and is serving a 14-year prison sentence on drug charges. He was designated by President Joe Biden’s administration as wrongfully detained in December.

Fogel’s release follows a massive prisoner swap last August that resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan, among others.

Here is a look at other Americans who remain in Russian custody:

Ksenia Khavana

The U.S.-Russian dual national was arrested in Yekaterinburg in January 2024 on treason charges, accused of giving a donation to a charity aiding Ukraine. She was sentenced in August to 12 years in prison. She obtained U.S. citizenship after marrying an American and was on a family visit from Los Angeles when arrested. Rights activists said the charges stem from a $51 donation to a U.S. charity that helps Ukraine.

Stephen Hubbard

The Michigan native was convicted of fighting alongside Ukraine’s military as a mercenary against Russia and sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in October 2024. Prosecutors said in the closed trial that Hubbard had signed a contract with Ukraine’s military shortly after Russian troops invaded in February 2022 and that he fought with the Ukrainian side until being captured two months later. Hubbard, who was 72 at the time of his conviction, was the first American known to have been convicted of fighting for Ukraine in the conflict.

Travis Leake

The musician was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison in July 2024. An Instagram page described him as the singer for the band Lovi Noch (Seize the Night). News reports said he is a former paratrooper with the U.S. military and had lived in Moscow since 2010.

Gordon Black

An Army staff sergeant, Black was convicted in June 2024 in Vladivostok of stealing and making threats against his girlfriend, and was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. He had flown to Russia from his post in South Korea without authorization and was arrested in May after she accused him of stealing from her, according to U.S. and Russian authorities.

Robert Woodland

Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug trafficking in July 2024 and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison. Russian media reported that his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2. He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a TV show.

David Barnes

An engineer from Texas, Barnes was arrested in 2022 while visiting his sons in Russia, where their mother had taken them. His supporters say the woman made baseless claims of sexual abuse that already had been discredited by Texas investigators but a Russian court in February 2024 convicted him on those claims anyway and sentenced him to 21 years in prison.

Robert Gilman

Identified in the media as a former U.S. Marine, Gilman was arrested in 2022 for allegedly assaulting a police officer after a drunken disturbance on a train. He was initially handed a 3.5-year sentence, then allegedly attacked a prison inspector during a cell check and was sentenced in October 2024 to 7 years and 1 month in prison.

Eugene Spector

A Russian-born U.S. citizen in prison on bribery charges, Spector was handed a second 15-year term for espionage in December 2024. Spector, formerly an executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was previously sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in September 2022 for enabling bribes to a Russian government official.

Joseph Tater

Tater was arrested in August 2024 at an upscale Moscow hotel after failing to provide documents showing that he entered the country legitimately. At a police station, he allegedly attacked an officer. He has been in custody awaiting trial on assaulting a law officer, which carries a sentence of up to five years. At a September court hearing, Tater claimed he came to Russia to seek political asylum and that he was being persecuted by the CIA.