John Jefferson
A 28-year-old American citizen detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges earlier this month was freed ahead of talks between Washington and Moscow on ending the war in Ukraine.
The release of Kalob Byers, of West Virginia, was confirmed by David Kelly, deputy speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
“He was released and is now at home,” Kelly told Fox News of Byers.
Byers was released to the U.S. embassy in Moscow late Sunday evening, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
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Byers was detained on Feb. 7 at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport after customs officials allegedly found cannabis-laced marmalade in his baggage.
The 28-year-old was traveling from Istanbul with his Russian fiancée, who was also detained, according to Russian media reports.
Authorities accused Byers of attempting to smuggle a “significant amount” of drugs into the country. The charges were punishable with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Byers’ fiancée was also released. Russian media reports identified her as Naida Mambetova and said she was placed in pre-trial detention on the same charges.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to a question from reporters about Byers on Monday.
“We also expect that on Tuesday we will be able to talk about restoring the entire range of Russian-American relations,” Peskov said, referring to the talks between Washington and Moscow in Saudi Arabia. “Accordingly, certain events can be viewed in this context.”
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Senior Russian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss improving relations and an end to Moscow’s war in Ukraine – without representatives from Kyiv. The talks are meant to lead to a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as Trump has stated they agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war.
Arrests of American nationals in Russia have become increasingly common in recent years, with relations between Moscow and Washington sinking to Cold War lows over the war in Ukraine. Some have been released in prisoner exchanges.
Byers’ release comes as Marc Fogel, a U.S. citizen who was detained on drug charges in Russia four years ago, was released last week in exchange for Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik, who had been detained by the U.S. government on cryptocurrency fraud charges.
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Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, was serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana.
Fox News’ Lillian LeCroy and Greg Norman, along with The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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