Russia has released U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, who had been held in the country's Kaliningrad exclave for nine months, negotiator Bill Richardson announced. "It is significant that despite the current environment between our two countries, the Russian authorities did the right thing by releasing Taylor today," Richardson said in a statement on January 12. The release came one month after the high-profile swap of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who the United States said had been wrongfully imprisoned. Dudley's detention had not been publicized and Washington did not say he was wrongfully detained.
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