Trevor Reed was injured several weeks ago, said the source, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Reed was taken to Germany for medical attention.
“I want to be explicitly clear about something. Mr. Reed was not involved in any activity on behalf of the United States government,” Patel said in a statement. “We have been incredibly clear in warning American citizens not to travel to Ukraine, let alone engage in combat. As you know, we are not in a position to provide assistance to evacuate private American citizens from Ukraine, including Americans who choose to travel to Ukraine to participate in the fighting.”
Reed was released by Russia as part of a prisoner swap last year for a Russian pilot jailed in the United States for drug trafficking.
The Messenger was the first outlet to report on Reed’s injury.
