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☆ Paul Whelan tells CNN he asked Blinken to ensure he's not left behind again
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Paul Whelan, an American who has been imprisoned in Russia for nearly five years, pressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call in August to ensure that he is not left behind again, Whelan told CNN. He has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department. Whelan was not included in prisoner swaps that freed fellow wrongfully detained Americans Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner last year. “Secretary Blinken remains committed to bringing Paul home,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN on Monday. They’ll spin it out as long as they can, to try to pressure on him, as well as on the US government to do something,” he told CNN.

Persons: CNN — Paul Whelan, Antony Blinken, Whelan, “, ”, Blinken, Joe Biden “, he’s, Blinken “, ” Whelan, I’m, Whelan –, –, Trevor Reed, Brittney Griner, Konstantin Yaroshenko, Viktor Bout, Biden, Vadim Krasikov, Paul, Paul Whelan, ’ Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Evan Gershkovich, “ We’re Organizations: CNN, Marine, US State Department, “, State Department, Blinken Locations: American, Russia, Mordovia, Irish, Moscow, Russian, Germany, ”, United States, “

☆ Bill Richardson Reveled in Role of Freelance Envoy to Dictators
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Michael Crowley | More About Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was days before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the U.S. government was urging Americans to stay away from Russia. That’s when Bill Richardson boarded a plane to Moscow. The former New Mexico congressman, governor and cabinet member was pursuing his passion: freelance diplomacy with a dangerous foreign government. In a call to Mr. Reed’s parents, an aide to Mr. Richardson said his boss was on a “guerrilla mission,” they would later recall. Either way, the Russian mission was classic Bill Richardson.

Persons: That’s, Bill Richardson, Richardson, Trevor Reed, Reed’s, ”, Reed, Richardson’s, Biden, — Organizations: U.S, New, U.S . Marine, State Department Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, New Mexico, U.S, Russian

CNN —Rare new video has emerged showing detained American Paul Whelan, who has been held in Russia for more than four years, inside his prison camp. The video, released by Russian state-controlled news agency Russia Today (RT), shows Whelan wearing a Russian prison uniform in different parts of the prison, with shots of him using a sewing machine and eating in a cafeteria. The former United States Marine was sentenced to 16 years in prison on an espionage charge he vehemently denies. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Whelan, who the US government deems wrongfully detained, according to a source familiar with the call. The Biden administration has put forth proposals for Whelan’s release, but Russia has not responded in a substantive way, two administration officials told CNN.

Persons: Paul Whelan, Whelan, ” Whelan –, –, “, ”, I’m, David Whelan, David, Paul, ” David, Antony Blinken, Trevor Reed, Brittney Griner, Biden, Evan Gershkovich Organizations: CNN, Russia, United States Marine, ”, RT, Wall Street Locations: Russia, Russian, Irish, Moscow

☆ Jailed US citizen Paul Whelan seen in rare video at Russian penal colony
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | Thomson Reuters | Humeyra Pamuk Is A Senior Foreign Policy Correspondent Based In Washington Dc. She Covers The U.S. State Department | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, stands inside a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia June 15, 2020. Arrested in 2018 in Russia, Whelan was convicted of spying charges in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony in Mordovia, a Russian region notorious since Soviet times for its penal colonies. "Today was the first time I've seen what he really looks like since June 2020," his brother David Whelan said in an email. He said the Russia Today had showed up in the prison in May to film Whelan and when he declined to participate, the prison staff retaliated against him. In the video, Whelan tells the questioner that he will not answer his questions.

Persons: U.S . Marine Paul Whelan, Maxim, Paul Whelan, Whelan, Biden, David Whelan, Trevor Reed, Konstantin Yaroshenko, Washington, Brittney, Viktor Bout, Antony Blinken, Evan Gershkovich, Humeyra Pamuk, Josie Kao Organizations: U.S . Marine, REUTERS, Rights, Kremlin, Russia, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, United States, Mordovia, Russian, American, Ukraine, U.S, Yekaterinburg, Gershkovich

☆ Ex-Marine Trevor Reed, Freed From Russia Last Year, Injured in Ukraine Fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Brett Forrest | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-marine-trevor-reed-freed-from-russia-last-year-injured-in-ukraine-fighting-e99456c4

Persons: Dow Jones Locations: russia, ukraine

☆ Trevor Reed: Former US Marine who was released by Russia in prisoner swap injured while fighting in Ukraine, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Trevor Reed, the former US Marine who was wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly three years before being released in a prisoner swap, was injured while fighting in Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter told CNN Tuesday. Reed, who was freed in a prisoner swap in April 2022, was transported to a hospital in Kyiv and was evacuated to Germany for medical care, the source said. A US official told CNN that Reed is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a US military hospital near Ramstein Air Base. Reed and his family denied the charges against him, and he was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department. It was ultimately secured through a prisoner swap for Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian smuggler convicted of conspiring to import cocaine.

Persons: Trevor Reed, Reed, Vedant Patel, Patel, Reed “, ”, ” Patel, Jonathan Franks, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Matt, Carstens, ” “ You’ve, Konstantin Yaroshenko Organizations: CNN, US Marine, ”, Department, Landstuhl Regional Medical, Ramstein Air Base, Russian Federation, US State Department Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Germany, Ramstein, Moscow

Trevor Reed, the former U.S. Marine who was detained in Russia for nearly three years and later freed in a prisoner swap, was injured while fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said on Tuesday. He is receiving medical care in Germany, said Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman. Mr. Reed was visiting his Russian girlfriend in Moscow in August 2019 when he was arrested on what his family said were bogus charges of assaulting police officers. The United States considered him wrongfully detained, and after months of diplomatic negotiations and mounting public pressure on the Biden administration, Mr. Reed was freed in April 2022 as part of a prisoner swap for a Russian pilot imprisoned on cocaine trafficking charges in the United States. The United States has repeatedly warned American citizens not to travel to Ukraine or participate in the war, though untold numbers of them have done so anyway.

Persons: Trevor Reed, Vedant Patel, Reed, Biden Organizations: U.S . Marine, State Department, United Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Moscow, United States, Russian

☆ A little-known Russian spy agency left feces in the suitcases of diplomats as its calling card, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A mysterious Russian spy agency left unsettling calling cards for US targets, the Journal reported. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. The Russian Department for Counterintelligence Operations, or DKRO, is a secretive organization that operates under the FSB, Russia's security agency. They know us extremely well," Dan Hoffman, a former Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Moscow, told the Journal. American officials told the Wall Street Journal the DKRO was likely behind the arrest of Gershkovich, who has now been imprisoned in Russia for more than 100 days.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, They've, Dan Hoffman, Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Trevor Reed, Whelan, Reed Organizations: Service, Wall Street Journal, Russian Department for Counterintelligence Operations, Central Intelligence Agency, Wall Street, Journal, American Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, American, America, Moscow, Russia

☆ Live updates: Russia's war in Ukraine, Bakhmut news
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly,” said Whelan, who called CNN exclusively from his prison camp in remote Mordovia. Whelan said he does harbor concerns that he could be left behind again — particularly after the Russians wrongfully detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich. The US was unable to secure Whelan’s release in prisoner swaps that brought home two other wrongfully detained Americans last year: Trevor Reed in April and Brittney Griner in December. And I’m told that the government is working tirelessly to get me out of here and to get me home so they can then focus effort on Evan and his case,” Whelan said. The former US Marine was sentenced to 16 years in prison on an espionage charge he vehemently denies.

☆ Exclusive: Paul Whelan tells CNN he's 'positive and confident' the 'wheels are turning' toward release
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Paul Whelan, an American who is wrongfully detained in Russia, told CNN on Sunday that he feels confident that his case is a priority for the United States government but wishes it could be resolved faster. “I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning. I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly,” said Whelan, who called CNN exclusively from his prison camp in remote Mordovia. However, Whelan said Sunday he has more confidence in the US efforts to get him home than he did when he spoke to CNN in December following Griner’s release. Medical care, dental care is provided privately,” he told CNN.

☆ Paul Whelan: US ambassador to Russia visits detained American
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited Paul Whelan on Thursday – her first visit to the wrongfully detained American since taking up the post in Moscow. “Today, Ambassador Tracy visited #PaulWhelan at IK17 prison in Mordovia,” the US Embassy in Moscow posted on Twitter. “Paul has been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than 4 years, and his release remains an absolute priority,” the post said. The US government was unable to secure Whelan’s release last year when they brought home two other wrongfully detained Americans: Trevor Reed in April and Brittney Griner in December. Whelan is one of two Americans still in Russia who has been designated as wrongfully detained.

☆ Families of US detainees urge Biden to do more to deter hostage-taking
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Speaking at an event organized by the "Bring Our Families Home" campaign, an advocacy group set up largely by the families of American citizens detained abroad, relatives called on Biden to do more to bring home their loved ones but also deter "hostage-taking" by foreign governments and groups. Proponents of "Bring Our Families Home" are urging Biden to take steps including more swaps of prisoners and easing of sanctions against countries that are holding U.S. detainees. Most recently, Russia has detained U.S. citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges, which he denies. The Biden administration has carried out two prisoner swaps with Russia and one with Venezuela. Families also repeated a call to meet with Biden, a plea that went unanswered for many of them for over a year.

☆ Analysis: Russia's arrest of reporter deepens Biden's detainee challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/4] Reporter for U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, Russia March 30, 2023. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a news briefing on Thursday the Whelan and Gershkovich cases should not be compared. Russia's security service has, without providing evidence, accused Gershkovich of gathering information classified as a state secret about a military factory. Biden on Friday called on Russia to release Gershkovich. The Biden administration has secured the release of at least 25 "wrongfully detained" Americans.

☆ Russia says relations with U.S. at an all-time low
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that relations with the United States were at an all-time low, dismissing the idea the two sides could turn things around halfway through U.S. President Joe Biden's term in office. "Bilateral relations are probably at their lowest point historically, unfortunately," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Already poor U.S.-Russia ties became even more strained last year when Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting Washington and its allies to respond with a barrage of sanctions against Russia's economy. The United States has also provided Kyiv with substantial economic and military support, drawing condemnation from Russian officials who have accused Washington of playing a direct role in the conflict. "The past two years have been, despite initial timid hopes related to Geneva ... very bad for bilateral relations," Peskov said.

☆ Russian ambassador to Washington says U.S.-Russia relations in 'ice age'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to the United States on Friday compared the state of U.S.-Russia relations to an "ice age", and said that the risk of a clash between the two countries was "high", Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported. TASS cited Anatoly Antonov as saying that it was hard to say when talks on strategic dialogue between the two sides could resume, but that talks on prisoner swaps had been "effective" and would continue. U.S.-Russia ties have fallen to their lowest point in decades amid the fallout from Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, and the consequent imposition of Western sanctions. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jon BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Despite GOP criticism of the prisoner swap that freed Brittney Griner, Fiona Hill said Trump was 'not particularly interested' in freeing Paul Whelan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Critics, including Trump, asked why Brittney Griner was freed while Paul Whelan remains jailed. Hill said Trump wasn't "particularly interested in Paul [Whelan]'s case" while in office. "If I made that deal the Dems would chant, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA!" "I also have to say here that President Trump wasn't especially interested in engaging in that swap for Paul Whelan," Hill said. However, she added, Whelan, Griner, and Reed were all caught up in what she called "political games" while doing things that "seemed completely ordinary."

☆ Brittney Griner arrives in the U.S. after prisoner exchange with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - A plane carrying basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States early on Friday, nearly 10 months after she was detained in Russia. Griner was released in a prisoner swap with Russia in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout and was heading home on Thursday, ending what President Joe Biden called months of "hell" for her and her wife. [1/3] The plane carrying U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner arrives, following her release from prison in Russia, in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., December 9, 2022. The swap was a rare instance of cooperation between the United States and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. The two countries also swapped prisoners in April when Russia released former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and the United States released Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.

☆ Biden chose humanity over geopolitics with Griner release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But President Joe Biden’s decision to exchange WNBA star Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout goes beyond the exchange’s bottom line. And it prompted top Republicans to charge that he had prioritized a basketball superstar over an ex-marine who benefited from a vocal political pressure campaign on Biden. This adds another layer of complication for Biden as he seeks to get Whelan free, since it involves another government and would require German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to potentially agree to supersede his country’s own legal system. While Biden is being castigated by some political opponents in Washington for doing a bad deal, administration officials insisted that he got the best one on offer. It was a choice between bringing home one particular American, Brittney Griner, or bringing home none,” a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday.

☆ Griner lands in U.S. as Russia's Bout greets family in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States on Friday after 10 months in Russian detention that ended with a prisoner swap with arms dealer Viktor Bout who flew home hours earlier to embrace his family on the airport tarmac in Moscow. The two countries had swapped prisoners in April when Russia released former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and the United States released Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko. Griner, 32, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, flew in to San Antonio, Texas. She had been arrested on Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia, were found in her luggage. As Griner flew back home, Bout arrived in Moscow and hugged his mother and wife after stepping onto the tarmac, television images showed.

☆ Brittney Griner prisoner swap a rare diplomatic success between U.S. and Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The exchange of WNBA star Brittney Griner and arms dealer Viktor Bout was a rare moment of successful diplomacy between Moscow and Washington as relations between the two countries deteriorate over the war in Ukraine. For many, the trade will evoke memories of Soviet-era spy swaps — a more positive reminder of that era than the nuclear standoff that President Joe Biden recently said left the world facing its most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Biden speaks with with Brittney Griner on the phone, accompanied by Cherelle Griner at the Oval Office on Thursday. One of the most well known Cold War swaps involved American pilot Francis Gary Powers, whose U-2 spy plane was shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union. Powers was traded two years later for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, in an exchange on a fog-shrouded bridge between West Berlin and East Germany.

And a catastrophe for Paul," David Whelan said. The Whelan family was similarly frustrated in April, when another former Marine held in Russia, Trevor Reed, was released in a prisoner exchange. David Whelan said that at the time, they were not warned that his brother was not included in the swap. "Paul Whelan has been let down and left behind at least three times by 2 Presidents," the group said in a statement. David Whelan added that his parents are in their 80s, and it will be another Christmas without their son since he was detained four years ago.

☆ WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap between the U.S. and Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | Andrea Mitchell | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

WASHINGTON — WNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return. The entrance to the Russian penal colony IK-2 on Nov. 19, 2022, where Griner began serving her sentence. The Biden administration has faced tremendous pressure to help bring home the 6-foot-9 Houston native. Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP fileGriner’s release is the second publicly known U.S. prisoner swap with Russia since the war in Ukraine started.

☆ Biden administration brings WNBA star Brittany Griner home for the holidays after 10 months in Russian custody
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration is bringing WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for 10 months, home for the holidays after months of negotiation. "She is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home," U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday. Cherelle Griner was present and able to speak with Brittney when Biden made the call from the Oval Office. Notably absent from the swap was another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, who has been in Russian custody since 2018. "We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan," Biden said.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who could be swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Russia wants the jailed arms dealer back in Moscow and is discussing a prisoner swap with the United States that could see him exchanged for Americans imprisoned in Russia including basketball star Brittney Griner. Reed was ultimately freed in return for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States on drug trafficking charges. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. In interviews, Bout has said he attended Moscow's Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which serves as a training ground for military intelligence officers. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

That the WNBA star, who lost her appeal Tuesday, is a gay Black woman could add unknown variables to a penal system that is known to be remote and harrowing. “Conditions in prisons and detention centers varied but were often harsh and life threatening,” a 2021 State Department report on Russian human rights abuses said. “Russian prisons are grim, even relative to prisons in other countries. Prisoners were used for farming, mining or logging in sparsely populated areas of the country or worked in sweatshop conditions. It can often take weeks for prisoners to arrive at the prisons on prison trucks and specially designed train carriages called Stolypins.

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