Russia fires U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, who was held in Kaliningrad for nine months. It is reported by CBSNews with reference to the negotiator and former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson..

Dudley has been in detention since April 2022 and is one of several American detainees that Richardson and US authorities have sought to release..

35-year-old Dudley arrived in Kaliningrad from Poland, where he was at a music festival.

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The release comes a month after Washington traded imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA basketball player Britney Griner, who was illegally detained and arrested in Russia for possessing cannabis oil vape cartridges..

In Dudley's case, the US and Russian governments did not announce his detention, and Washington did not claim that he was wrongfully detained..

It was not reported whether the US handed over any of its detainees in exchange..

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Earlier it was reported that Moscow was offering to transfer basketball player Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan in exchange for Zelimkhan Khangoshvili's killer Viktor Krasikov..