Russia releases U.S. Navy veteran into Poland, says former Governor Richardson

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson looks on during a news conference at JFK International airport in New York, U.S., November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russia on Thursday released a U.S. citizen who had crossed into its Kaliningrad exclave in the first weeks of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last February, former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson, who met the man at the border in Poland, said in a statement.

U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Dudley, 35, was backpacking in Europe when he crossed the Polish-Russian border in April, Jonathan Franks, a lawyer who represents families of Americans detained overseas, said in an email to reporters.