CNN
By Kit Maher and Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, landed in the US on Tuesday night after the Trump administration secured his release in an “exchange.”
The deal to release Fogel, who was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, was negotiated by President Donald Trump, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “and the President’s advisers,” according to a statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz.
The statement did not provide any details about the “exchange,” other than to say it was “a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.”
“We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually,” Trump said in the Oval Office later Tuesday. “I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war and millions of people can stop being killed.”
The White House posted a photo late Tuesday of Fogel stepping off a plane at Joint Base Andrews with an American flag draped across his shoulders. He was expected to travel to the White House, where the president is set to welcome him.
Trump’s pick to serve as special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Fogel’s release would not play out as a direct one-for-one exchange with a Russian held in the US, at least on the tarmac Tuesday.
“You won’t see an exchange go on right now. I think you will see the president give consideration if there are some nonviolent people where maybe there’s no issues one way or the other, but you will not see a one-for-one thing happening at the same time,” Boehler said on “The Source” from Joint Base Andrews ahead of Fogel’s arrival.
Boehler, who was speaking alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also teased the release of an additional detained American on Wednesday but would not say whether the person was in Russia. “That’s going to be a surprise for tomorrow,” he said.
In an extraordinary move, Witkoff personally went to Russia to bring back Fogel, Waltz’s statement indicated. There has been no known high-level US travel to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Witkoff, who is Trump’s Middle East envoy and didn’t have previously known official dealings with Russia, was involved in part because he leveraged relationships in the Middle East to further the agreement, according to two people briefed on the discussions.
Witkoff has crisscrossed the region in recent months working on the Gaza ceasefire deal, notably in Qatar, a primary mediator. Doha was involved in helping Witkoff and the administration with Tuesday’s exchange deal through introductions Qataris made to Russian intermediaries, the people briefed said.
“By tonight, Marc Fogel will be on American soil and reunited with his family and loved ones thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” Waltz’s statement said.
‘Today, we begin to heal,’ family says
Fogel’s family said Tuesday they “are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention” he is coming home.
“Thanks to the unwavering leadership of President Trump, Marc will soon be back on American soil, free where he belongs,” Jane, Ethan and Sam Fogel said in a statement. “This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal.”
Fogel’s sister, Anne Fogel, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” that his wife and children are headed to Texas to see him Wednesday because of a winter storm in Washington, DC. She said the family was notified last week that her brother was moved from a prison in Rybinsk, so they “knew something was happening” and had been waiting anxiously.
“We are really jubilant. And we are celebrating,” Anne Fogel said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Boehler posted a “real time photo” of Marc Fogel returning to the US, holding a US passport and raising a glass. “I’m sure it was a scotch,” his sister said.
Fogel worked for nearly a decade as a history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, where children of US diplomats were among his students.
He was arrested in August 2021 at an airport in Moscow after he was found carrying cannabis. He had traveled into the country with about 17 grams of cannabis, which his family and lawyer said was recommended by a doctor to treat “severe spinal pain.”
In June 2022, he was found guilty in a court just outside Moscow of committing “large-scale drugs smuggling” and given a 14-year sentence at a Russian hard labor camp. The same court held the trial of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was released in a prisoner swap in December 2022.
Fogel was not included in multiple prisoner swaps under the Biden administration, including one in August that saw the release of journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.
Fogel’s family had expressed deep concerns about his health, telling CNN in July 2022 that his prison sentence amounted to “a death sentence for him.” The US government had asked Russia to release Fogel on humanitarian grounds due to his age and chronic back pain.
Officials celebrate Fogel’s release
Sen. Steve Daines penned a letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2023 urging the State Department to immediately designate Fogel “wrongfully detained,” which the US did late last year.
On Tuesday, Daines praised Trump for securing Fogel’s release.
“This is a major victory for President Trump, the United States and most importantly, Marc Fogel and his family. No American should have to endure this injustice, and I am relieved Marc is on his way home to the country he loves,” the Montana Republican posted on X.
While Fogel is from Pennsylvania, he has family who live in Montana, including his sister. She told CNN in December that her family was pleased by the government’s decision to formally designate her brother as wrongfully detained.
Fogel’s mother, Malphine Fogel, met with Trump ahead of the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally where he was nearly assassinated in July.
“He said, ‘We’ll get him out,’” Malphine Fogel told CNN affiliate WTAE at the time. “So, I told Marc that. He said that three different times. He pointed his thumb-up and said, ‘We’re gonna get him out.’”
Rep. Mike Kelly, Malphine Fogel’s congressman, cheered Marc Fogel’s release Tuesday. “For years, I have met with the Fogels and have strongly advocated for Marc’s release,” the Pennsylvania Republican wrote on X, adding, “Today is a great day for the Fogel family, who will be reunited in Western Pennsylvania once again.”
Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio, Fogel’s congressman, also praised the news, as did Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“After more than 3 years in Russian captivity, I join his family, our federal partners, and all of his fellow Pennsylvanians in welcoming Marc Fogel home — exactly where he belongs,” the Democratic governor wrote.
There are still a number of Americans detained in Russia. At least two have been designated as wrongfully detained — American Stephen Hubbard and Russian-American dual national Ksenia Karelina.
Release not linked to Russia-Ukraine war but is ‘a good sign’
Rubio told Collins that while Fogel’s release and an end to the war in Ukraine are not linked, he thinks it’s a good sign that Russia was willing to cooperate.
“It’s a long way to go between here and there. It’s not going to be easy,” Rubio said of ending the war. “And again, I don’t want to claim that what’s happening here tonight is in any way the first step towards that, but I do think it’s a good sign that the Russians were willing to do something in this regard, and hopefully we can build on that in the days to come.”
Rubio said he didn’t think anybody can assign a timeline to the nearly three-year war ending. “We don’t just want to see it end. We want to see it end in a way that’s sustainable,” he said.
The news of the “exchange” with Moscow comes as Trump has suggested he could try to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine in ways that are unsettling to Kyiv.
In an interview with Fox News that aired this week, Trump said Ukraine may fall under Russian control “someday,” as he called for the war-torn country to share its natural resources in exchange for US assistance.
“They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday. But we are going to have all this money in there and I say, I want it back,” Trump said.
Members of the Trump administration are set to meet with Ukrainian officials in the coming days. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to travel to Kyiv for discussions about the country’s critical mineral deposits, two people familiar with his plans told CNN. Vice President JD Vance is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is set to visit Kyiv following meetings at the Munich Security Conference.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Alex Marquardt, Natasha Bertrand, Edward Szekeres, Teele Rebane, Samantha Waldenberg, Jenna Monnin and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
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