Who is Taylor Dudley? Navy vet's family wanted to keep negotiation private before his release from Russia
BAGRATIONOVSK, BEZLEDY, RUSSIA: An American Navy Veteran Taylor Dudley, 35, of Lansing, Michigan was released, after months of negotiations, from Russian custody on Thursday. His negotiations were spearheaded by the former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and much of this was kept private until his release.
Dudley was detained by Russian border patrol police in April 2022 after he crossed Poland and went to Kaliningrad, in Russia. He was in Poland, attending a music festival when he crossed the border without any known reason.
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His detention was not deemed as "wrongful" by the US government nor had it been categorized as arbitrary and discriminatory. It (detention) was also not widely publicized as his family wanted the negotiations for his release to remain private," as per CNN which first reported his release.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, a non-profit founded by Richardson, spearheaded the negotiations, family spokesperson Jonathan Franks told the station. The former governor and diplomat have long worked to free Americans detained abroad, and his center played a role in securing the release of Trevor Reed, a US citizen and former Marine who had been wrongfully detained in Russia, last summer.
No exchange was made on the US side for Dudley, said Mickey Bergman, the center’s vice president, and executive president. The Steve Menzies Global Foundation and the US Embassy also helped to secure Dudley’s release, Franks said.
“Earlier today, Russian authorities released American Citizen Taylor Dudley, a 35-year-old Navy veteran, across the Polish border to Gov. Bill Richardson, his team, and a representative from the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, a release the Richardson Center worked on diligently and quietly for more than 6 months with significant assistance from the Steve Menzies Global Foundation, from Hostage U.S., and from the James Foley Foundation. The family will be forever grateful for the work of all three," said Franks.
Richardson in a separate statement said, “We worked it hard in Moscow and Kaliningrad and first raised it during our meetings with Russian officials on Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.”
US citizens Griner and Reed have since been released, but Whelan is still in Russian custody. Richardson said he and his team are still “pressing forward” in negotiations with Russia to secure Whelan’s release.