Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained in Russia since 2021, is heading back to the United States following successful negotiations by the Trump administration, Fox News reported Tuesday.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz announced that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff secured Fogel's release in what officials describe as a gesture of diplomatic goodwill from Russia. "President Trump, Steve Witkoff, and the president's advisors negotiated an exchange that serves as 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," Waltz said.
Fogel, 63, was serving a 14-year prison sentence following his August 2021 arrest at a Russian airport for drug possession. His family maintained that the substances were prescribed medication, Fox News reported.
Family members expressed profound relief at the news, telling the Associated Press they were "beyond grateful, relieved and overwhelmed" about his imminent return. "This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal," they said.
Before his arrest, Fogel spent nine years teaching history at the Anglo-American School in Moscow. After graduating from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1984, Fogel built a 36-year career in education, teaching at schools serving US diplomatic families across Colombia, Venezuela, Oman, and Malaysia.
The release marks another diplomatic achievement for the administration, with Waltz noting that Trump "has successfully secured the release of Americans detained around the world" since taking office in January. Fogel is expected to reunite with his family on American soil by Tuesday evening.
Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman called the development "a major foreign policy success," particularly noting Witkoff's ability to secure the release while managing complex Middle East negotiations.
Fogel's release comes months after he was notably absent from a major prisoner exchange in August 2024 that freed several other Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan.
