On Tuesday, Washington secured the release of Marc Fogel, a US teacher imprisoned by Russia for 14 years for entering the country with 17 grams of medical cannabis in August 2021.
The deal also marked the first known visit by a senior US official to Russia since Moscow launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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During his meeting with Fogel on US soil, US President Donald Trump said another detainee would be released on Wednesday but did not provide further details.
Here is a list of US nationals currently imprisoned by Russia, who might have won the lottery ticket home:
Stephen Hubbard – accused of fighting for Ukraine
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Hubbard, who in 2014 moved to Kharkiv, Ukraine, was detained by the Russian military in April 2022, two months after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Russia accused the 72-year-old Hubbard of fighting for Ukraine and sentenced him to 6 years and 10 months in prison on mercenary charges in an October 2024 court decision.
Gordon Black – former US military
Black was a serving US Army staff sergeant arrested in Russia on theft charges filed by his then-Russian girlfriend and was subsequently sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
Black, without authorization, traveled through China to Russia’s Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok to meet his Russian girlfriend. Unnamed US officials told AP News at the time that Black is married and likely visited his Russian girlfriend after some type of domestic dispute or altercation last year.
Joseph Tater – self-proclaimed escapee from US
Tater was arrested and detained for 15 days in August 2024 for allegedly abusing a Russian hotel staff. He was later arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer. Tater denied both claims, according to Reuters.
Tater’s lawyer was quoted as saying that Tater entered Russia “with the purpose of obtaining political asylum in the Russian Federation in connection with persecution by competent relevant authorities in the United States.” Tater’s trial is pending, but he could face up to five years in prison for the assault charges.
Ksenia Karelina – US-Russian Ballerina
Karelina, who became a US citizen by marriage, was arrested in Russia in January 2024 during a family visit for making a $51.80 donation to a Ukrainian foundation in 2022.
On Feb. 7. 2024, 32-year-old Karelina was charged with high treason and was remanded in custody for two months the next day. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August 2024.
David Barnes – imprisoned on murky domestic violence charges
Barnes, born in Alabama and lived in Texas, was arrested in Russia in January 2022 when he went to the country to visit his two sons, taken by his Russian ex-wife, and applied for visitation rights.
A Russian court sentenced the then-66-year-old Barnes to 21 years in a high-security penal colony in February 2024, on charges that accused him of abusing his sons that were previously dismissed by law enforcement officials in suburban Houston, ABC News reported at the time.
Robert Gilman – drunk disturbances, then prison incidents
Gilman was handed a term of seven years and one month in a strict-regime penal colony in October 2024 after being found guilty of attacking prison staff and a criminal investigator.
Initially, Gilman was convicted in 2022 of attacking a policeman while drunk in the city of Voronezh and sentenced to four years and six months in prison, later reduced to three and a half years on appeal.
While in jail, he punched members of prison staff “in the head” on two separate occasions and attacked a criminal investigator, according to prosecutors.
Eugene Spector – bribery, later espionage charges
The Russian-born former pharmaceutical executive was imprisoned on espionage charges and sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony in December 2024 – after he was initially sentenced to 4 years in prison on alleged bribery charges in 2021.
However, details of his charges and closed-door trial remain scarce, according to Radio Liberty. Russian state media TASS said Spector, whose Russian name was Yevgeny Mironovich, was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg in Russia).
Travis Leake – former paratrooper, musician
Leake was sentenced to 13 years in July 2024 for allegedly “[organizing] the sale of drugs to young people.” CNN said Leake was a musician and music producer who has lived in Russia for many years. The Russian court said Leake was a “former paratrooper” during the trials.
Robert Woodland – drug trafficking charges
Woodland is accused of the “illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing” of drugs by a court in Moscow in January 2024. AP News said Woodland was a Russian-born US citizen who was adopted at a young age and was seen reuniting with his birth mother in a Russian television show in 2020.
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