Which US citizens are still being detained abroad?

Reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Wheelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, now in the United States, were released from Russian custody in a historic prisoner swap earlier this week.

But even as the US government celebrates their return, dozens of Americans are now being held hostage or wrongfully detained in 16 countries around the world.

Data from the James W Foley Heritage Foundation – named after a journalist kidnapped and killed in Syria – shows there are more than 40 Americans being unjustly detained abroad, many of them held for years after sham trials.

The vast majority of cases covered in the report, 78 percent, involved wrongful detention by state actors such as China, Iran or Russia. The remainder were hostage-taking cases by non-state actors including Hamas, which is currently holding at least five U.S. citizens.

But the real number of people detained abroad may be higher.

The families of some detainees in the United States have deliberately avoided the spotlight, while others have not yet been designated by the United States as being wrongfully detained.

Here are some cases we know of:

Among the Americans still being held in Russia is Ksenia Karelina, a 32-year-old amateur ballerina and spa worker based in California.

In February, Russian authorities announced that Ms Karelina – a dual citizen who was visiting family in the country – had been arrested on charges of treason.

The charges are said to stem from a $51.89 (£40.43) donation to a New York-based charity that buys equipment for Ukrainian rescue workers.

After the prisoner swap between the US and Russia, Karelina’s boyfriend, Christopher van Heerden, told Reuters he was disappointed she was not included in the deal.

“I’m happy for the people, the Americans, who are back with their families,” he said. “It gives me hope. At the same time, it hurts and it makes me sad… she’s not on the list.”

Ms Karelina’s trial is expected to begin next week.

While the US government has not commented publicly on the case, Mr. van Heerden said they were aware and were trying not to “offend” the Russian government ahead of the trial.

Freelance journalist and former US Marine Austin Tice, 31, was kidnapped in August 2012 while working in Syria.

Although no government or group has claimed responsibility for his disappearance, US officials soon stated that they believed he was being held by the Syrian government — a position they have maintained ever since.

The Syrian government says it does not know where Mr Tice is.

In 2022, US President Joe Biden met with Tice’s family and said the US knew “with certainty” that he was being held by the Syrian government.

In May of this year, Mr. Biden again referred to Mr. Tice being “held hostage.”

After 12 years, he is believed to be the longest-serving American journalist in history.

Marc Fogel, 63, a teacher at the British-American School in Moscow, was arrested at the airport in August 2021 and charged with carrying a small amount of medical marijuana prescribed in the United States.

He is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence and is reportedly teaching English to fellow inmates.

Following the prisoner swap between the US and Russia, Ms Fogel’s family said in a statement that he was “left behind again”.

The statement added that “Marc has been unjustly detained for far too long and must be given priority in any exchange negotiations with Russia, regardless of his notoriety or sanity.”

On August 1, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was “actively working to secure his release”.

Asked about the Fogel case the next day, President Biden said “we are not going to give up on that case.”

Mark Swidan, a Texas businessman and graphic designer, has been detained in China on drug charges since 2012. He has denied the charges.

A subsequent UN review of the allegations found that Mr Swidan – who was in China buying flooring materials at the time of his arrest – was not in the country at the time of his alleged crimes.

The US government considers him, along with two other Americans, to be wrongfully detained in China.

In April, his mother, Katherine Swidan, told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the family was “very worried and scared that Mark would end his life”.

The family also alleges that Mr Swidan was tortured while in Chinese custody, including suffering both broken arms and dislocated kneecaps.

“His leg was so swollen that they probably couldn’t take the splint off his leg without amputating it,” Ms Swidan said at a press conference in February. “He was sick. He was just eating bread.”

Ryan Corbett, a New York native, was arrested after returning to Afghanistan in August 2022 after fleeing the country when the Taliban took power the previous year.

Prior to that, he lived in the country for many years and ran and supervised projects for several NGOs.

So far, Mr. Corbett has not been charged. Taliban officials have told CBS that he was involved in “anti-state” activities.

He is one of three US citizens the US government believes are being held by the Taliban, which has expressed a desire to release them in exchange for Afghan citizens still held by the United States.

In March, his family said they received a “disturbing call” from Mr Corbett in Afghanistan, in which he “showed significant deterioration in his mental state”.

“I want the president to realize that not taking action to bring Ryan home could have dire consequences,” his wife Anna told CBS.

While US officials have held several meetings with Taliban representatives to secure his release, they have not yet disclosed whether any progress has been made.

Several US lawmakers, including New York representative Claudia Tenney, have also publicly called for his release.