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On Thursday, January 12, 2023, US Navy veteran Taylor Dudley was finally released after being held in Kaliningrad in April 2022. The news was confirmed by Taylor Dudley’s family and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s Office. Dudley was detained in Russian custody for almost a year.
ABC News reported that the Navy veteran is currently with the Richardson Center team, who have reportedly traveled to Russia several times over the last year to secure Taylor Dudley’s release from detention.
The former Gov. further expressed concerns about an ex-Marine named Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia back in 2018 and has been held there ever since. Richardson also mentioned that as much as they are enjoying Dudley’s return, they will continue to work for Paul’s release too.
Taylor Dudley has finally been freed from Russian detention after he crossed the Polish border and entered Kaliningrad during a music festival
Michigan native Taylor Dudley, 35, was arrested and detained by Russian authorities after he crossed into Kaliningrad from Poland back in 2022. He was reportedly attending a music festival in Poland at the time. However, it could not be discovered why he crossed and reached Kaliningrad. The US Navy veteran was being held for almost a year before being released on Thursday.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement released a statement announcing Dudley’s safe release. The members stated they had to travel to various parts of Russia to negotiate Taylor Dudley’s safe return with the Russian authorities. The statement read:
“The negotiations and work to secure Taylor’s safe return were done discreetly and with engagement on the ground in both Moscow and Kaliningrad.”
Bill Richardson did not reveal much about the negotiations that went behind bringing Taylor Dudley back and said that the Russian authorities did “the right thing.” The Navy veteran’s detention has not been described as arbitrary or “wrongful” in any way.
The news did not make many headlines and hadn’t been publicized, as Dudley’s family wanted the entire procedure to be as discreet as possible. Richardson said in the statement:
“It is significant that despite the current environment between our two countries, the Russian authorities did the right thing by releasing Taylor today.”
Mickey Bergman, the Vice President and Executive President of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, confirmed that there has been no release on the US side for Taylor Dudley. Apart from the Richardson Center, the US Embassy and the Steve Menzies Global Foundation also assisted in Dudley’s safe release. Family spokesperson Jonathan Franks told CNN:
“The past 9 months have been difficult ones for the family and they ask the media to respect their privacy and give them the space to welcome Taylor home.”
CNN also reached out to Richardson over the phone, who said:
“After six months of intensive work, it’s great to see this release of Taylor Dudley happen. We worked it hard in Moscow and Kaliningrad and first raised it during our meetings with Russian officials on Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, and Trevor Reed.”
CNN reported that Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner have been released from Russian detention. Whelan has been in their custody since 2018. Moreover, the Russian authorities have accused him of being a spy, which has been denied by both the US authorities and Whelan’s family.
Richardson has expressed concerns regarding ex-Mariner Paul Whelan’s detention in Russia
Bill Richardson addressed the issue of Paul Whelan and said that his team is still “pressing forward” in negotiations with Russian authorities to secure Paul Whelan’s release. He continued:
“As we celebrate Taylor’s safe return, we remain very concerned for Paul Whelan and committed to continue to work on his safe return, as we have been for the last four years, as well as other Americans.”
The former Gov. further added:
“There are many low-profile Americans that deserve freedoms, too. In other words, there are many around the world that don’t have fame but that still deserves America’s backing.”
Unlike US Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, Paul’s detention has been categorized as wrongful. The latter was arrested in 2018 and was sentenced to serve 16 years in jail. Additionally, the US authorities have made several attempts to free Paul Whelan.
Last year, they placed a proposal to trade Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in a swap for Viktor Bout, who is an arms dealer. However, Russia disagreed with the proposal and settled on just releasing Griner.
A statement has been released by a White House official, which said:
“The Biden Administration is grateful for the work of Consular Affairs, Embassy Warsaw, and Embassy Moscow that led to the resolution reached in this case. Out of consideration for the privacy of the family, we will not have further details to share at this time.”
Authorities mentioned that Taylor Dudley was let go on Thursday morning at the Russia-Poland border crossing. Representatives of the US Embassy in Warsaw told media outlets that Richardson and Dudley’s family members, including his mom, Shelley, will fly from Poland to Virginia after receiving him.
