In the biggest such exchange since the Cold War, a number of high-profile individuals have been freed including dual UK-Russian citizen Vladimir Kara-Murza and US reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The family of a teacher not included in a landmark prisoner swap between Russia and the West have demanded “immediate action” from US President Joe Biden.
Some two dozen people from countries including Russia, the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus were involved in the biggest exchange between the West and Moscow since the Cold War.
British citizen Vladimir Kara-Murza and US reporter Evan Gershkovich were among those freed from Russia under the deal, hailed by Mr Biden as a “feat of diplomacy”.
Not included in the agreement was Marc Fogel, an American teacher serving a 14-year jail sentence in Russia for possession of 17 grams of medical cannabis.
The drug had been prescribed to him in the US, but was illegal in Russia. He was jailed in August 2021.
Mr Fogel’s family said it was “incomprehensible” he was not included in the prisoner swap and suggested he was forgotten by the Biden administration because he is “not rich, a celebrity, or connected to powerful patrons”.
They said it was a “glaring injustice” that US and Western partners managed to win the release of prisoners detained after Mr Fogel, calling it “wrong, unfair, and not the America we know and love”.
“All [Mark] has is his family, led by his 95-year-old mother, Malphine, who is fighting for her son’s rights,” they said.
“We refuse to remain silent and will continue to fight for Marc. We demand immediate action to secure Marc’s release.”
