Less than a week after teacher Mark Vogel was released from three years of confinement, Russia reportedly released a second American who was detained on drug charges.
US officials on Monday Confirmed Russian media reports that Karob Wayne Byers, 28, was released about 10 days after being detained along with his Russian fiancée at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
Byers and his fiancee were taken into custody on February 7th upon arrival from Istanbul. Customs officials said they found “cannabis covered gummies or marmalades” in his bag. Russian officials accused him of smuggling “a significant amount” of banned cannabis into the country.
Russian media said Byers was released on Sunday evening to care for the US embassy in Moscow and would return to the United States as soon as possible.
According to Byers' family, he had I traveled He was carrying a cannabis gummy to Russia via Istanbul, confirming details of marrying his fiancé and treating his epilepsy. His father said he suffered from an epileptic attack in custody on Friday but was not given the necessary medication.
Byers' mother Tonya Schuler described her son as “a citizen in a position ready to marry the love of his life.” He is a West Virginia resident who works in a hospital.
Mark Vogel, 63, was taken into custody by a Russian customs agent in 2021 after owning half an ounce of medical marijuana. he It was returned After three years in a Russian prison, he praised the United States last Wednesday, President Donald Trump and his State Department as “heroes” who arranged for his release.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Recognised Byers released it on Monday, saying it was part of an effort to “recover the entire Russian-American relationship.”
Peskov suggested that Byers' prompt release was part of laying the foundation for an unscheduled meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin on the war in Ukraine.
As of Monday morning, there was no official word on whether Byers' Russian fiancee, Naida Mambetova, was still in custody.
