Ex-US marine goes on hunger strike in Russian jail

Trevor Reed is serving nine years in prison after being accused of elbowing the driver of a police vehicle while drunk

A former US Marine imprisoned in Russia has reportedly begun a hunger strike amid calls for his release from a facility 310 miles from Moscow, his family have said.

Trevor Reed, 29, is said to have been on hunger strike since last Thursday, more than two years after he was arrested by Moscow police.

Russian authorities allege that Mr Reed was being escorted to a police station when he elbowed the driver of the police vehicle, causing it to swerve.

He had been on his way home from a party and was drunk at the time, although Russian authorities have so far refused to release any police footage from inside the car.

The former US Marine’s family told reporters on Tuesday he had “begun a hunger strike to protest his arbitrary detention and Russian authorities’ numerous and flagrant violations of his basic human rights”.

His lawyer told Interfax news agency that the hunger strike had been ongoing since Thursday.

His parents Joey and Paula Reed added that while they were “immensely proud of our son’s strength of character, we are also extremely worried about his health”.

Russia’s state penitentiary service, however, insisted that Mr Reed was eating “in accordance with the daily schedule” in comments relayed by Interfax on Tuesday.

The service’s division in Mordovia, a region some 500 km (310 miles) southeast of Moscow where Mr Reed is serving his sentence, also denied allegations of human rights abuses.

Mr Reed has been kept in a cell that, according to ABC News, does not include a toilet. Nor has been handed items delivered to him by America’s ambassador to Russia John Sullivan in September.

His sentence is nine years.

His family have appealed for the Biden administration to secure his release, who is not the only American imprisoned in Russia.

An appeals court in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, around 400 km (250 miles) east of Moscow, on Monday refused Paul Wheelan’s request to return home to the US.

Mr Wheelan was convicted in June of espionage and sentenced to 16 years, and denies that he was aware that a flash drive he was carrying had classified information on it.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press