On several occasions, I asked Whelan why he thought the Russians let him call journalists, including me.
The letters described the bleak existence in his prison camp, which Paul Whelan called “Camp Lostinthewoods.”“My cell has rotten wooden floors and black mold on the walls.
Conditions in Russian camp deteriorateThe next time Whelan called me was more than five months later.
The next time Whelan called was in March 2024, after the death of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny in a remote Russian prison colony.
Whelan told me he felt “sympathetic and empathetic” for Gershkovich – and he sounded much more hopeful than he had in the past.
Persons:
Paul Whelan, Whelan, –, Russia –, Brendan Smialowski, “, ” Whelan, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, ”, Jennifer Hansler, Elizabeth, David, Andrew, Paul, Elizabeth Whelan, Joe Biden’s, Vladimir Putin, – Whelan, Trevor Reed, wouldn’t, – “, Biden, Putin, David Whelan, Brittney Griner, Reed, Konstantin Yaroshenko, Griner, Trevor, Viktor Bout, Alexander Zemlianichenko, I’ll, Evan Gershkovich, Antony Blinken, ” “, Gershkovich, CNN “, Alexey Navalny, Maxim Shemetov, Gershkovich –, CNN’s Alex Leeds Matthews, Dan Dzula
Organizations:
CNN, Base Andrews, Getty, State Department, US State Department, ”, WNBA, Embassy, “, Wall Street, Israel, Reuters, US
Locations:
Mordovia, Russia, Maryland, AFP, US, Moscow, Geneva, United States, Washington, Khimki, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Gershkovich’s, Gaza, ‘, Russian