Paul Whelan was devastated at being left behind in a Russian labor camp as other Americans were released
Former Marine Paul Whelan said he was devastated when a Biden administration official told him WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner was being released from Russian detention after nine months and he was not.
Former Marine Paul Whelan said he was devastated when a Biden administration official told him WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner was being released from Russian detention after nine months and he was not.
In his first interview with NBC News since returning to the U.S., Whelan, who had been imprisoned in Russia for more than five years by the time of his release, said “it was devastating.”
As the Homeland Security official told him the news over the phone, he realized the U.S. had given up its negotiating position. The official told him that to free Griner, the U.S. had traded convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s price for releasing the celebrity athlete. Whelan responded, “OK, well, what are you going to do next? What’s next?”
Paul Whelan at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 1, 2024. Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images file Immediately after that phone call, Whelan said he went down to the prison control room, surrounded by officers from Russia’s FSB security agency who were listening in, to call his parents and tell them the devastating news. He wanted to reassure them the U.S. would leave no stone unturned to get him back.
“That was difficult,” he said. “I had not lost confidence that they would get me back, but I wasn’t sure when they would get me back.”
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