US Embassy Staff Visited Paul Whelan In Prison, Said He Looked 'Well' - Brother

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2023) The US Embassy staff visited Paul Whelan, an American who has been held by Russia on spying charges since 2018, on Thursday and noted that he "looked well," his brother, David Whelan, said on Sunday.

"US Embassy staff were able to visit him this week (1/31/2023) and said that he looked well," David Whelan said in a statement.

The Whelans are grateful that the US government continues to communicate with the Russian authorities about Paul Whelan and monitors "his ongoing survival," the statement read.

Sunday marks 1,500 days that Paul Whelan has spent behind bars in Russia, but it represents "no movement by the Kremlin to release" him, his brother said, adding that the family "continues to hope that someday soon Paul will be free."

The Russian authorities arrested Paul Whelan in the Moscow area in December 2018 and a court sentenced him to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage. Whelan, who is also a citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom, has maintained that he is innocent and insisted that he arrived in Russia for a friend's wedding.