Former US Marine who was released by Russia in prisoner swap injured while fighting in Ukraine

Trevor Reed, the former US Marine who was wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly three years before being released in a prisoner swap, was injured while fighting in Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter told CNN Tuesday.

Reed, who was freed in a prisoner swap in April 2022, was transported to a hospital in Kyiv and was evacuated to Germany for medical care, the source said.

The circumstances around Reed's injury in combat were not immediately clear.

The Messenger was first to report the news.

"We are aware that Trevor Reed was injured while participating in fighting in Ukraine," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a briefing Tuesday, adding that Reed was evacuated to Germany with the support of an unnamed NGO.

A US official told CNN that Reed is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a US military hospital near Ramstein Air Base.

Patel and another US administration official stressed that Reed "was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the US government."