Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said Mr Reed had joined Ukraine’s army in July 2023 and “directly participated on the side of the Ukrainian security forces in combat operations” against Russian troops in Ukraine.
It said it had placed Mr Reed on the international wanted list.
Mr Reed, born in 1991, was convicted in Russia in 2019 of endangering the lives of two police officers while drunk on a visit to Moscow. The United States called his trial a “theatre of the absurd”.
He was freed in a prisoner swap in April 2022 in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the US.
Separately, a Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American, Stephen James Hubbard, to nearly seven years in prison for serving as a mercenary for Ukraine.
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***The Telegraph reports:***
Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who Russia [freed in a prisoner swap in 2022](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/27/joe-biden-says-release-russian-prisoner-swap-difficult-decision/), has been found guilty in absentia of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine and handed a prison sentence of 14 and a half years.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said Mr Reed had joined Ukraine’s army in July 2023 and “directly participated on the side of the Ukrainian security forces in combat operations” against Russian troops in Ukraine.
It said it had placed Mr Reed on the international wanted list.
Mr Reed could not immediately be reached for comment. In July, the US State Department said [he had been injured while fighting in Ukraine](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/26/trevor-reed-ex-us-marine-injured-ukraine-russian-prison/) and had been transferred to Germany for medical care.
Mr Reed, born in 1991, was convicted in Russia in 2019 of endangering the lives of two police officers while drunk on a visit to Moscow. The United States called his trial a “theatre of the absurd”.
He was freed in a prisoner swap in April 2022 in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the US.
Separately, a Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American, Stephen James Hubbard, to nearly seven years in prison for serving as a mercenary for Ukraine.
**Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/10/09/us-marine-trevor-reed-sentenced-14-years-russia-ukraine/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/10/09/us-marine-trevor-reed-sentenced-14-years-russia-ukraine/)
There go his plans to vacation in Russia and Belarus.
Somebody is going to read just the headline, and be totally ready for nuclear war.
That’s a light sentence compared to Russian conscription because that would be a death sentence.
“I’m supposed to be serving 14 years in Russia for fighting Vatniks” is a pretty good bar story.