Russia Releases American Held on Drug Charges

Kalob Byers, a 28-year-old man from Ohio, has been released and returned to the United States after being detained at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow for possession of cannabis. The US State Department confirmed this information, stating that it was a “welcome gesture” by Russia.

Byers arrived in Moscow on February 7th via Istanbul when marijuana-laced sweets were found in his luggage during airport screening, according to Russian state media reports. He faced charges of drug smuggling and could have been sentenced to up to ten years in prison along with a fine of one million roubles.

However, Byers had epilepsy and was taking cannabis as medication prescribed by an American doctor to help control his seizures. His fiance, Naida Mambetova, who is Russian national, was also placed under pre-trial detention for the same charges but has now been released along with him.

In a Facebook post, Byers’ mother explained that her son had been without his medication for eight days during his detention in Russia. She expressed gratitude to both Russia and Ukraine for their assistance in securing his release.

It is worth noting that this incident occurred shortly before US-Russia talks over the war in Ukraine were set to begin, with Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggesting that Moscow expected “to discuss restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations” during these negotiations. The State Department has expressed hope that Moscow would also consider freeing other detained Americans, such as Stephen Hubbard and Ksenia Khavana.

Over the past few years, Russia has been detaining a number of US citizens for various charges with some officials suggesting that this was an attempt to “hoard” Americans in order to trade for allies or operatives imprisoned abroad. However, several American nationals have recently been freed following prisoner exchanges and other diplomatic gestures.

Currently, at least ten Americans remain in prison in Russia on a range of charges including drug offenses, mercenary activities, and involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.