US citizen Joseph Tater has left Russia after his detention in Moscow last August, after which he was placed in a psychiatric clinic, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.
On 6 April, a court ordered Tater’s release from custody and sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment. The court, according to state-run Russian media, said he was not criminally responsible for his actions after he was allegedly diagnosed with a mental disorder.
According to TASS, Tater was discharged from a psychiatric clinic on 6 June.
Unnamed medical sources told TASS that the clinic had no reason to keep Tater and released him for outpatient treatment. Tater is reportedly no longer in Russia, but his current whereabouts are unknown.
Neither the U.S. Embassy in Moscow nor the State Department in Washington immediately commented on the situation.
Tater was detained in Moscow on 12 August 2024 on charges of “minor hooliganism” and ordered to be held for 15 days. His detention was later extended as Russia’s Investigative Committee opened an investigation into a more serious charge of likely violence against a police officer.
Reuters earlier cited a Kremlin source as saying Tater was one of nine Americans the United States wanted returned as part of a prisoner exchange.
Washington and Moscow have already conducted two prisoner swaps since Trump took office in January.