US Marine Trevor Reed’s parents said they had arrangements in place for their son’s release

The parents of Trevor Reed, a Texas Marine, fought back tears on Wednesday as they discussed his release on a prisoner swap with Russia – and said their son is having a hard time leaving other captured Americans behind.

Reed’s parents said during a news conference outside their home in Granbury, Texas, that they were notified by the US government of his release from a Russian prison after serving 1,000 days in captivity.

“We had a little advance warning that something could happen this week. We were like clockwork on every call,” said Reed’s father, Joey Reed.

Reed’s parents have campaigned tirelessly for their son’s release since his arrest in the summer of 2019.

The naval veteran was accused by Russian authorities of assaulting an officer as he was being driven to a police station after a night of drinking. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, although his family and the US government maintain his innocence.

Reed was in Russia to learn the language as part of his undergraduate program at the University of North Texas, his family said.

During the 1,000 days that Reed spent in captivity, his parents worried that their son’s health would deteriorate as they feared he had tuberculosis and said he often looked malnourished.

As pictures of the prisoner exchanges with the Russians were shown around the world, Paula and Joey Reed said they were horrified to see their son.

“He looked very frail and I cried immediately because he just didn’t look like himself. He’s usually so healthy,” said Paula Reed.

The 28-year-old American was flown to Turkey, where he was swapped out for Konstantin Yaroshenko, 53, a Russian pilot whom the US has described as “an experienced international drug trafficker”.

The prisoner swap was agreed shortly after the Reeds’ recent meeting with President Joe Biden.

“We’ve been saying for a year … we believe if we can just get to the boss, we can get to the top man of our government, the executive branch, that we can get this thing done because of[Biden’s]personality and what Americans know about him.” . You may not like his politics, you may not like certain things about him, but anyone who says he is not a compassionate and kind man is a liar,” the Marine’s father said.

Paula and Joey Reed said they knew their son was being taken to a US military hospital in an undisclosed location for a medical check-up and they weren’t sure when they would finally see him.

The Reeds plan to bring their son home to Texas, nurse him back to health, help him adjust to life outside of a Russian prison, and celebrate the end of an “all-consuming ordeal” like his parents’ have described in the last three years.

“What they did to Trevor is not the Russian people. Sometimes the Russian people are misguided, just as some people are misguided in our country, and we just have to remember that. Never be mean to any Russian person you see on the streets of America because that’s not their fault, that’s probably why they’re here,” said Joey Reed.