According to recent reporting by Axios, U.S. and Russian officials are discussing the possibility of conducting another prisoner exchange. The last prisoner swap involving the two countries took place in August of 2024 and saw 24 detainees released to the U.S., Russia and other Western nations.
While U.S. officials have cautioned that no exchange is guaranteed, Russia does currently hold at least eight Americans in prison, and President Trump has made bringing detained Americans home a focus of his second term in office. Russian officials may also look to leverage a prisoner swap to improve relations with the Trump administration—relations which have soured due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
One detainee who could be involved in an exchange between the two countries is David Barnes.
Barnes, who was born and raised in Alabama and still has family in the state, was arrested by Russian officials in 2022 and later sentenced to 21 years in Russian prison.
Barnes’ arrest and detention stem from allegations made by his ex-wife—a Russian national—that Barnes abused their children while the couple lived together in Texas. Those allegations were deemed unfounded by Texas prosecutors, and a Texas family court ultimately designated Barnes as the primary guardian of his sons in August of 2020.
However, Barnes’ ex-wife allegedly committed felony interference with child custody, fleeing to Russia with the couple’s children in March of 2019 and never returning. Barnes later traveled to Russia in an attempt to fight for visitation rights in Moscow’s family court system, only to be arrested and convicted by Russian officials over the child abuse accusations despite Texas law enforcement having no involvement in the Russian trial.
A recent effort by Barnes’ attorney to free the American from custody was rejected by a Russian judge who instead extended Barnes’ prison sentence by six months, ordering that he be sent to a high-security penal colony and receive psychiatric treatment. Barnes’ friends and family have called on the Trump administration to declare Barnes as being wrongfully detained, and are hopeful that a prisoner exchange between Russia and the U.S. could see Barnes freed.
Now, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., is joining Barnes’ relatives in calling for his release from Russian custody, expressing support for a potential prisoner exchange involving Barnes on Tuesday.
“I am happy to see reporting that the Trump Administration is continuing to work to bring Americans imprisoned in Russia home to the United States,” Britt said in an official statement. “It is past time that David Barnes is returned to America. I applaud President Trump and Secretary Rubio for their tireless work.”
Barnes is currently serving the longest prison sentence of any American detained in Russia. His case is also unique among Americans in foreign detention as Russian prosecutors have not accused Barnes of committing any crime on Russian soil.
