Paul Whelan, a former Marine who has been detained in Russia since 2018, said he feels as if his life is draining away after being left out of prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington.
Whelan has been sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges. He has denied the charges and U.S. diplomats have pushed for his release.
In May of this year, Whelan told the media he was optimistic the “wheels are turning” for his release.
Now, in an interview with the BBC, Whelan said he feels abandoned by the U.S. after two prisoner swaps with Russia occurred without him in the past two years. He said the decision to leave him behind was a “serious betrayal.”
He told the BBC he was recently assaulted by another inmate, and the outlet reports Whelan is being kept in a prison without heating.
WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was convicted of smuggling and possession of cannabis in early 2022, was swapped with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer, on Dec. 8, 2022.
Trevor Reed, a Marine who had been detained since 2019 for endangering Russian police, came home in April 2022, as part of a swap for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian jailed in the U.S. for drug trafficking.
During his year-end press conference last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is hoping to “find a solution” with the U.S. on the return of Whelan and American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested and jailed earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said earlier this month that Russia rejected a “significant proposal” that would have freed them both, but they added the U.S. will continue “to do everything we can to try and bring both of them home.”
BBC reporter Sarah Rainsford, who has spoken with Whelan multiple times throughout his imprisonment, said “in all the years we’ve spoken, I’ve never heard Mr. Whelan so pessimistic or so frustrated.”
“I know the U.S. have all sorts of proposals, but it’s not what the Russians want. So they go back and forth, like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks,” Whelan told the BCC.
“The problem is, it’s my life that’s draining away while they do this. It’s been five years!” Whelan added.
Whelan told the BBC that Russia wants a convicted Federal Security Service hitman returned from Germany as part of a swap, meaning the U.S. may have to coordinate with Germany if it wants to bring Whelan and Gershkovich home.
Whelan’s interview comes just after the United States announced a prisoner swap with Venezuela, bringing home 10 Americans who were detained and the return of fugitive Leonard Francis, the mastermind of a sprawling Navy corruption scandal. In return, the U.S. freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro facing trial for money laundering.
President Biden said in a statement that while he is celebrating their return, officials “remain deeply focused” on securing releases of hostages in Gaza and bringing home wrongfully detailed Americans from Afghanistan, Syria, China and Russia.
