What is known about American Mark Vogel, who was released from a Russian prison as part of an exchange

What is known about the American Mark Vogel, who was released from a Russian prison as part of the exchange Margarita Voloshina

The United States, as part of an exchange, returned its citizen Mark Vogel, 63, from a Russian prison, who was serving a 14-year sentence on charges of marijuana possession. Who was returned to Russia was not indicated.

This was reported at the White House on Tuesday evening, February 11. The corresponding information was reported by US National Security Advisor Mike Walz on the X social network, reports 24 Channel.

What is known about the released Mark Vogel

It is known that Mark Vogel was detained by Russian police in 2021 upon arrival in Moscow for possession of medical marijuana, which, according to him, was prescribed to him after back surgery. He was convicted a year later.

Then he was charged with smuggling and illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues. In October 2022, he was transferred from a pretrial detention center in Moscow to a penal colony, where he was to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Vogel, his wife Jane, and their two sons moved to Moscow in 2012. The man taught at the Anglo-American School in Moscow after working at the US Embassy. The school was later closed by Russian authorities.

The man himself is from Butler, Pennsylvania, in the US. He studied at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Vogel has taught history at international schools in Colombia, Malaysia, Oman, Mexico, and Venezuela. He is now 63 years old.

Mark Fogel was not included in a major exchange in the summer of 2024, when Russia transferred 16 political prisoners, including Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.

After the exchange, in August 2024, his mother and sister expressed outrage that he was not included in the prisoner swap. The day after the exchange, then-US President Joe Biden expressed hope that Fogel would be released.

Since his arrest, Fogel's family and lawyers have been seeking to have the US government recognize him as “unjustly detained,” which would open broad diplomatic channels for negotiations on his release and provide him with access to better medical care in a Russian prison.

And already in December 2024, the US State Department recognized Fogel as “unjustly detained.” And on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, the US secured his release from a Russian prison. The media reported that the plane carrying Fogel took off from Moscow at 20:25.

Recall that US President Donald Trump's special representative Steve Witkoff flew to Russia to return Fogel. The White House called this exchange a demonstration of goodwill on the part of the Russians.