It's 'impossible' to know what it will take to free Paul Whelan from Russia, brother says

The Christmas and New Year's holidays passed without any gifts, treats or special meals for Paul Whelan.

The former corporate security executive from Novi, who was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and convicted of espionage after a closed-door trial in 2020, is serving a 16-year sentence at a labor camp in Russia. The U.S. has declared him wrongfully detained and has been negotiating for his release.

“The prison has forbidden any gatherings or festivities, including decorations, for the holidays,” his brother David Whelan told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, of conditions at the IK-17 labor camp in the Republic of Mordovia.

Whelan allowed to call parents in Michigan

There, Paul Whelan, a former Marine who worked for Auburn Hills-based auto supplier BorgWarner before his arrest, sews buttons and buttonholes on uniforms.

He has been able to continue making daily calls to his parents, Rosemary and Edward Whelan, who live in Manchester, Michigan, and “was able to speak to our parents on Christmas and New Year's,” his brother said.

On the fourth anniversary of his arrest, the White House and several members of Congress pledged to continue working to bring Whelan home.

He was left behind in a prisoner swap in December with Russia, which traded U.S. basketball standout Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer dubbed the Merchant of Death who was held in U.S. custody since 2011.

"We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan," President Joe Biden said on Dec. 8, the day when Griner was returned to the U.S. "This was not a choice about which American to bring home. … Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittney's. ... We will never give up."

Griner was convicted on drug charges after Russian authorities found cannabis oil in her luggage last February. She was convicted in July and sentenced to nine years of hard labor at a Russian prison camp.

Although Biden tried to negotiate Whelan’s release along with Griner’s in the trade for Bout, the Russian government wouldn’t accept it, the White House said.

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'Easy to be disappointed'

Because Whelan was accused of spying, the Russian government is treating his case differently.

“It is impossible to know what will cause the Kremlin to finally agree to release Paul,” David Whelan said. “The Biden administration and members of Congress have been very clear about their intentions to bring Paul home. In the end, all they can do is create an opportunity.

“The Russian government will act in its own self-interest, which may or may not lead to Paul's freedom. I do not focus on likelihoods. As we saw in December, it is easy to be disappointed, and we may have another 12 years to go. When it happens, we'll all be thankful.”

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. continues to negotiate with Russia to secure Whelan’s freedom.

“We have had direct conversations with Russian officials regarding Paul Whelan, who remains wrongfully detained and who we are determined to bring home to his family, to his loved ones, just as soon as we can,” Price said.

“Our imperative is to see that outcome brought about swiftly, so it doesn’t do us any good to speak to the details of that. But we’ve said we are going to be committed, we’re going to be relentless, we are going to be creative in doing everything we can to bring about Paul Whelan’s return to the United States, return to his family.”

Whelan also was left behind in a prisoner swap with Russia involving former Marine Trevor Reed in April. That surprise exchange traded Reed for convicted Russian drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko.

'We must get a lot tougher with Russia'

Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan, said it’s difficult to remain hopeful.

“Unfortunately, I have no more hope for Paul's release in 2023 than I have had for the last several years," Elizabeth Whelan said. “We see how the Russian authorities are using American citizens to get back at our government, regardless of who is the president, and to sow dissent here in the U.S.

“I am heartened to see that support for Paul has grown over the four years, but that has not brought Paul home. We must get a lot tougher with Russia if this is to change. Perhaps this will be the year when that is finally achieved.”

Griner posted an open letter to Instagram shortly before Christmas, asking Americans not to forget Whelan and to send him letters in Russia.

“Thanks to the efforts of many, including you, I am home after nearly 10 months,” she wrote. “You took the time to show me you cared, and I want to personally take the time to write to you and say that your effort mattered. Your letters helped me to not lose hope during a time where I was full of regret and vulnerable in ways I could have never imagined. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because of you I never lost hope.

“Your letters were also bigger than uplifting me. They showed me the power of collective hands. Together, we can do hard things. I’m living proof of that. My family is whole and now, thanks to you, we are fortunate to get to spend the holidays together. However, there are too many families with loved ones wrongfully detained. … It’s our turn to support them. I hope you’ll join me in writing to Paul Whelan and continuing to advocate for other Americans to be rescued and returned to their families."

It takes months for letters to reach Whelan

She included the address people can use to write letters to Whelan: Paul N. Whelan, c/o American Citizen Services Unit Consular Section, 5430 Moscow Place, Department of State, Washington, D.C., 20521-5430.

It’s too soon to say whether Americans took Griner’s suggestion to heart, David Whelan said.

“It will take some months before any letters reach Paul,” he said. “We are all curious to see what the quantity of mail is like – how many cards and letters arrive – when that happens. Because of the inability to send direct mail, any cards and letters sent will have to wait until the next visit by an embassy to Paul to be delivered. He'll see the quantity, during the visit, and then will wait one to two months before receiving the letters/cards, as they will need to be translated/read by the prison.

“I think every incarcerated person, in the U.S. or Russia or anywhere, appreciates letters. There is a lot of research on the importance of family and friend contact with the incarcerated, on their success while in detention as well as after leaving it. I know Paul values every letter he gets. It is hard, after so many years, not to worry that you've been forgotten.”

Russia's war with Ukraine affects prisoners

While he waits, the fallout from Russia’s war with Ukraine are trickling down to the labor camp where Whelan is being held. Getting nutritious food has grown increasingly challenging for prisoners, David Whelan said.

“The food given to and sold to the prisoners has diminished in quantity. It is much harder to get fresh fruits and vegetables, even for Russian prisoners,” he said.

And the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service “has become very strict about the types of food that can be taken to prisoners. Several tins of food taken to Paul in November were opened and spoiled by the guards during their review of the food he was taken.”

The war also has meant that there isn’t as much work for prisoners to do at IK-17.

“The supplies for textile fabrication have dwindled, so the prisoners are working less,” David Whelan said.

Elizabeth Whelan said that even if 2023 doesn’t bring her brother home, she'd like to see the nation unite behind the government’s efforts to secure his release.

“I do hope to see an end to the partisan sniping over the tools a president must use to get Americans home, and instead see that same energy put to helping the government at large to stop hostile foreign nations using our citizens as pawns,” she said.

“Americans should not be used as pawns at home, either, and that requires folks who find it easy to lob insults at each other actually working together to solve this national security issue.”

Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paul Whelan: US still negotiating with Russia to free American