Russia releases US Navy veteran who crossed border

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia has released a U.S. Navy veteran who apparently illegally crossed the border from Poland into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad last year and was held there for nine months. Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced that Taylor Dudley had been handed over to U.S. custody in Poland on Thursday. The State Department had no immediate substantive comment. Unlike in high-profile previous releases by Russia of imprisoned Americans there was no swap for Dudley who was never considered to have been wrongfully detained. A spokesman for his family said Dudley had gone to Poland for a music festival, at some point crossed the Russian border and was detained in April, 2022.