U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited U.S. citizen Paul Whelan in a remote Russian penal colony on Thursday, according to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. It marked Tracy’s first visit with Whelan, a former Marine who has been jailed in Russia since being arrested by on espionage charges in December 2018. The U.S. has rejected the charges against Whelan and has accused Russia of wrongfully detaining him. Tracy’s visit with Whelan came weeks after she also met Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who the U.S. has said was wrongfully detained when Russian authorities arrested him in March also on espionage charges. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also issued a rare joint statement on Thursday calling on Russian authorities to release Whelan and Gershkovich. The Associated Press has the story:
US ambassador visits Whelan at Russian jail
Newslooks- MOSCOW (AP)
The U.S. ambassador to Russia visited Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan in a remote Russian prison on Thursday, as U.S. officials try to persuade Russian officials to agree to a proposal for gaining his release.
“Paul has been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than four years, and his release remains an absolute priority,” Ambassador Lynne Tracy wrote on Twitter. “The U.S. government will continue to engage Russian authorities on his case so Paul can come home as soon as possible.”
Tracy did not comment on Whelan’s condition or say what she discussed with the retired U.S. Marine, who was detained in 2018 and is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage. Whelan and Washington deny he spied in Russia.
The Biden administration had hoped to secure Whelan’s release during the negotiations on the prisoner exchange that eventually freed American basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison in December.
U.S. officials have said that Washington presented a “serious proposal” to Moscow to try to get Whelan out.
Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring U.S.-Russian tensions over the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine.
Another American jailed in Russia is Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested March 29 and accused of trying to obtain classified information.
Gershkovich is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges, which his family and the newspaper vehemently deny.
Tracy visited Whelan in IK-17, a remote Russian penal colony in Mordovia, a region 350 kilometers (210 miles) southeast of Moscow that human rights advocates say is known for harsh conditions and violent criminals. It’s in a region once synonymous with the Soviet gulag.
