Paul Whelan

 ( 1970 Births ) 

The BBC cited family members of Whelan, who said Whelan had previously bragged about knowing an agent of the FSB, and was privy to an unusual number of personal details about his friend, including which intelligence training school he attended. Whelan said the man was one of his oldest friends in Russia and that he had visited this man's house the winter before his arrest. Whelan also said he loaned his friend 80,000 ($1,147; £930), and claimed it was for the wedding. The FSB later said that the payment was for intelligence.

According to Whelan, his long-time friend framed him by appearing unexpectedly in the hotel, followed by authorities, who later arrested him. According to attorneys for Whelan, they could not provide the name of Whelan's Russian friend due to Russian secrecy rules, but Whelan's family identified the person as Ilya Yatsenko, whom the Russian newspaper Kommersant described as a major in the FSB's Department "K", which monitors Russian economic crimes.

Whelan was held for trial in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison, where as of March 2019, he shared a cell with a prisoner who spoke no English.

Former CIA officers have stated that the CIA would not recruit an officer with Whelan's military record, nor leave an officer exposed without a diplomatic passport. They further claim that Whelan's arrest is connected to tensions between Russia and the United States, including the detention of confessed unregistered foreign agent Maria Butina. On December 20, 2018, when discussing Butina's arrest, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia "will not arrest innocent people simply to exchange them".

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. met with Whelan on January 2, 2019, while Whelan was in Russian custody. He told Whelan's family that Paul was "in good health and good spirits", but that the family needed to supply all his incidental needs aside from basic foodstuffs. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "We've made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges, come to understand what it is he's been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return." On January 4, 2019, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We don't agree with individuals being used in diplomatic chess games... We are all extremely worried about him and his family." As of January 4, British and Irish consular officials were seeking access to Whelan.

On January 3, 2019, Whelan's attorney, Vladimir Zherebenko, said he was seeking his release on bail. He said a trial would not begin for at least six months, and that he would welcome an exchange of Whelan for Butina. He said: "I presume that he is innocent because, for now, I haven't seen any evidence against him that would prove otherwise." A few weeks later, Zherebenkov said Whelan had been unaware of the contents of the USB drive and believed it contained material solely of personal value such as "photographs, videos, anything at all, about his previous holiday in Russia."

On January 5, 2019, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that on the day after Whelan's arrest the United States had detained a Russian citizen, Dmitry Makarenko (born 1979), in the Northern Marianas and transported him to Florida to face charges of unauthorized export of defense equipment.

Whelan was initially held at the Correctional Colony No. 18 under supervision of the Russian Federation's Federal Penitentiary Service. he was held in a high-security prison, IK-17, eight hours drive southeast of Moscow.

Whelan's brother David Whelan approved of the decision to "make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn't going to happen."

On May 4, 2023, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited Whelan in the remote Russian penal colony where he was being held. On August 16, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Whelan on the phone and told him to "keep the faith and we're doing everything we can to bring you home as soon as possible." On November 28, 2023, David Whelan discussed in an email to supporters that Paul had stated he was assaulted during his time at the camp; he was punched in the face by another inmate while working at a sewing table. Whelan's glasses were broken during the assault, which David speculated may have been motivated by "anti-American sentiment which is not uncommon among other prisoners."

According to an inmate, Whelan received a lot of mail in prison, including a letter reportedly from Julian Assange.

On August 1, 2024, Whelan was released as part of a prisoner exchange at Ankara Esenboğa Airport. David Whelan issued a statement thanking the press for persisting in covering his brother's story during the 2,043 days of his captivity. He asked his brother be allowed some privacy and declared his role as a spokesperson ended. The Whelan twins' sister Elizabeth appeared alongside President Joe Biden in the Oval Office that day and spoke to Paul Whelan as he and others released prepared to leave Ankara. Greeting Paul Whelan on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, Biden removed the American flag pin from his lapel and pinned it on Whelan's jacket.