Russia on Thursday released a U.S. Navy veteran after nearly a year of detention in a Russian province between Poland and Lithuania.
“Today, the Russian govt released my client, Taylor Dudley, a Navy vet, cross the Polish border,” Jonathan Franks, a spokesperson for the family, tweeted Thursday morning, saying he and the family were en route to Washington, D.C.
Dudley, 35, of Michigan, was detained in April after crossing into Kaliningrad, a Russian province on the Baltic Sea bordered to the north and east by Lithuania and to the south by Poland.
His detention was not widely publicized because his family wanted to keep the negotiations private, according to CNN.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, a nonprofit founded by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), led negotiations for his release.