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A former teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow is among half a dozen detained American citizens left behind in Russia following a dramatic multi-nation prisoner exchange on Thursday that saw the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans.
As President Biden and Vice President Harris greeted Mr. Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Krumasheva on the airstrip at Joint Base Andrews, notably absent were fellow Americans like Marc Fogel.
Russia is responsible for 25% of all Americans who are wrongfully detained abroad, according to the James W. Foley Foundation, which advocates for innocent U.S. nationals held in foreign countries.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, Pennsylvania Republican, said he was disappointed after learning that Mr. Fogel, one of his constituents, was not part of the prisoner exchange.
“Since he was imprisoned in Russia in 2021, I have repeatedly called on the Biden administration to include Mr. Fogel in any future release,” Mr. Kelly said. “I’m saddened not only for Marc but also for his 95-year-old mother, Malphine Fogel, and Marc’s family, who have been without him for more than 1,000 days.”
Mr. Fogel, 63, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport in August 2021 after authorities discovered a small amount of medical marijuana in his luggage. Mr. Fogel was later sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug smuggling. Mr. Fogel worked at the now-closed Anglo-American School in Moscow at the time of his arrest.
“Marc is a Pennsylvania teacher with severe health issues who has been unjustly imprisoned in a Russian prison for three years, and as the congressional members who represent Marc and his family, we have been pushing to bring (him) home as quickly as possible,” Mr. Kelly and other members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation said in a statement.
Mr. Fogel was tried by the same Russian court that sentenced American WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after she was accused of a similar crime. She was exchanged in December 2022 for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer.
“I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family,” Mr. Biden said after the prisoner swap was announced. “Too many families are suffering and separated from their loved ones and I have no higher priority as President than bringing those Americans home.”
Other Americans not part of the high-level swap include former U.S. Army paratrooper and musician Michael Travis Leake. He was sentenced last month to 13 years in prison on narcotics trafficking charges, which he denied.
Russian-American Ksenia Karelina was arrested in January 2024 while visiting relatives in Yekaterinburg. She was charged with treason after reportedly donating about $50 to a charity that provides humanitarian relief to elderly people and children in Ukraine who have been affected by the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv.
“I’m happy for the people, the Americans, who have returned to their families,” her boyfriend, Christopher van Heerden, told Reuters. “This makes me hopeful. At the same time, I’m heartbroken and sad (that) she’s not on the list.”
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black was detained in May 2024 after making an unauthorized trip to Russia from South Korea, where he had been stationed. A woman in Vladivostock believed to be his girlfriend, accused him of stealing the Russian equivalent of about $113 from her. According to Russian media reports, he was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison.
Andre Khachatoorian has been detained in Russia since December 2021. He was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport while waiting on a connecting flight to Armenia, where he planned to meet his fiance for a vacation, according to the Foley Foundation.
Russian-born U.S. citizen Eugene Spector was charged last year with espionage after officials in Moscow accused him in 2021 of bribing an assistant to a former Russian deputy prime minister, according to the official TASS news agency.
Former Marine Robert Gilman was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in October 2022 after he was convicted of fighting with a police officer in Russia while drunk. His sentence was later reduced by a year but according to state media, Mr. Gilman is now facing additional assault charges.
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