American imprisoned in Russia calls CNN to push for his release

American negotiators had been unable to safe Whelan’s launch concurrently Griner’s — just like the case of a former U.S. Marine, Trevor Reed, who was exchanged in April 2022 in one other one-for-one swap.

Whelan’s title has come up once more because the Biden administration tries to safe the discharge of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Road Journal reporter who was arrested in March and accused of espionage. Whelan instructed CNN on Sunday he was involved that he might as soon as once more be left behind in Russia if a deal had been negotiated for Gershkovich.

“That’s an excessive fear for me and my household,” he instructed CNN, including: “I really feel that my life shouldn’t be thought-about much less precious or vital than others who’ve been beforehand traded.”

He additionally instructed CNN that prisoners from his jail camp within the area of Mordovia had been recruited to battle in Ukraine, and that worldwide sanctions had been having an influence on the standard and amount of what’s being offered to the prisoners.

Elizabeth Whelan, his sister, complained in February that lawmakers who had talked about her brother in reference to Griner had seemingly misplaced curiosity after Griner’s launch.

“We haven’t heard from any of them,” she mentioned in February. “Nobody has referred to as.”

However on Could 4, Lynne M. Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, visited Whalen in jail.

“Paul has been wrongfully detained in Russia for greater than 4 years, and his launch stays an absolute precedence,” the U.S. Embassy in Moscow tweeted.

Whelan was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on espionage fees and sentenced to 16 years in jail in June 2020. Each his household and the U.S. authorities keep that Whelan, a former Marine employed as a company safety govt for BorgWarner, was unjustly accused and convicted.

CNN mentioned Sunday night that this was the third time Whelan had referred to as reporter Jennifer Hansler.