The lawyer of Paul Whelan, a US citizen imprisoned in Russia, has said his whereabouts are unknown, and Russian media is also reporting movement of prisoners in Russian penal colonies.
A lawyer for Paul Whelan, a US citizen who has been imprisoned in Russia for over five years, said she is currently unable to confirm his immediate whereabouts as rumors of a prisoner swap between the US and Russia grow.
Whelan, a former US Marine who is also an Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on suspicion of spying, charges that both he and the US government deny.
“I receive requests from journalists from various international agencies asking me to clarify whether I know Paul’s whereabouts, as there are rumors of a possible exchange,” Whelan’s lawyer Olga Karlova told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
“I have sent a request to the [prison] colony administration, but I’m not getting an answer,” she said.
At least seven other prisoners held in Russia were reported to have been moved from their jails or prison colonies in the past few days, fueling speculation of an imminent prisoner exchange, according to Russian media reports.
US officials have for years tried to secure Paul Whelan’s release
Whelan, a 54-year-old businessman has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.
His name has consistently come up in US-Russia negotiations to secure the release of US citizens wrongfully detained.
After returning to the US following a prisoner swap in 2022, Trevor Reed, also a former US Marine who was imprisoned in Russia, said he was hopeful that detained WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner and Whelan would also have a good chance of being released.
Later in 2022, Griner was released in a prisoner swap, but Whelan remained in prison.
In 2023, the Associated Press reported that President Joe Biden’s administration had made a significant offer aimed at securing the release of Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Russia rejected the offer, the State Department said, without offering explanation about the behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
Credit: DW news
