A mysterious figure: who is Mark Vogel
On Tuesday evening, February 12, it became known that the Russian side released an ex-employee of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Mark Fogel. Later, the Kremlin said that in exchange for the American, the United States released a Russian, but his name was not specified. The man was detained in August 2021 for smuggling narcotic drugs and sentenced to 14 years in a high-security colony. Vogel pleaded guilty in court. On how the offender found himself in Russia and why he was allowed to return home, - in the material "Izvestia".
How was Mark Fogel released?
The White House announced the release of U.S. citizen Mark Fogel, who was charged with possession and smuggling of drugs (part 3 of article 229.1 and part 2 of article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and served his sentence in Russia. He was detained at Sheremetyevo airport in August 2021 when a service dog found 11 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of hashish oil in his luggage. In 2022, the court sentenced him to 14 years in a high-security colony.
According to CNN, the U.S. State Department has since asked for the release of citizen Vogel. The illegal substance was allegedly prescribed to the man to treat chronic pain after spinal surgery, and his detention in the US was called illegal.
According to the Russian side's version, Vogel and his wife, who had diplomatic status, could have used it to organize drug shipments to Russia, including for distribution at the Anglo-American school where he worked as a teacher.
Donald Trump has repeatedly promised Vogel's family, convinced Republicans, that he would make efforts to secure the ex-diplomat's release. However, Fogel was not included in the large-scale exchange in the summer of 2024. At that time, the Russian side handed over 16 prisoners, including Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Hershkovich, a convict sentenced to 16 years in a colony for espionage. After this event, in August 2024, Fogel's relatives were outraged that the man was not included in the list of those released.
On February 11, 2025, it became known that the American civil servant flew from Moscow together with the special envoy of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East, Steve Whitkoff. The latter personally flew to the capital to release Vogel and, as Western media write, conducted secret negotiations on the deal.
Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser, later noted that Vogel was taken out of Russia as part of the exchange, but the two sides did not specify under what terms they came to an agreement - it is not known whether the United States or its allies released anyone in return.
U.S. officials characterized what happened as "a show of goodwill on the part of the Russians" and expressed the view that both countries were moving in the right direction to end the conflict in Ukraine.
"We appreciate what President Putin has done," Trump added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on February 12 that a Russian citizen was released from prison in the United States in exchange for Fogel. The Russian will return to the country the other day.
Commenting on the possibility of negotiations on the release and exchange of American and Russian citizens, the Russian presidential spokesman said that they are steps to build up trust, which is at its lowest point. However, according to Peskov, such agreements are "unlikely to be able to become a turning point."
Who is Mark Vogel?
Mark Vogel was born in Butler (Pennsylvania, USA) in 1959, he is 66 years old. The man graduated from Indiana University, located in his home state, and after working as a teacher in schools in Colombia, Malaysia, Oman, Mexico and Venezuela. What subject he taught is unknown.
Fogel, his wife and their two sons came to Moscow back in 2012. At the time of the arrest, the American worked as a teacher at an Anglo-American school in Moscow, and until May 2021, he and his wife had diplomatic status, as the man was an employee of the U.S. Embassy in Russia.
Interestingly, in 2023, the Anglo-American school in Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo, where Vogel worked, was recognized as a foreign agent, and then closed for promoting LGBT* (the movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia). The school had been in operation since 1949, with about 1,200 students at the time of its closure.
Since Fogel's arrest in 2022, lawyers have been pushing the U.S. government to recognize him as "unjustly detained." This would open wider diplomatic channels to negotiate the release of the ex-diplomat and teacher, and would also have a significant impact on the quality of his detention and medical care in the Russian prison.
Last December, the U.S. State Department declared Mark Vogel "unjustly detained," and already on February 11, 2025, at 20:25, the plane carrying the man left Moscow at 20:25.
Who is Steef Whitkoff
Steef Whitkoff is a well-known billionaire and American investor. In the Trump administration, he officially holds the position of special envoy to the Middle East. Trump characterized him as a businessman who made every project he was involved in a success. However, he has no experience in the Middle East: before that, Whitkoff was involved in real estate projects in the United States.
Read more about the representatives of the Trump administration in the material "Izvestia".
The New York Times wrote after Fogel's release that Trump on a personal level trusts Whitkoff, with whom he has been friends since the 1980s. He told a close circle that Whitkoff has the right skills to handle complex negotiations. The newspaper also says that a week ago, Trump secretly authorized Whitkoff to expand his portfolio beyond the Middle East to open a channel for negotiations with Russia.
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