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☆ Whelan says he spent last five days in Russian detention in solitary confinement
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Paul Whelan, who spent five-and-a-half years wrongfully detained in Russia, revealed Tuesday that he had spent the final five days leading up to his release in solitary confinement. “It was due to people like my parents, who grew up in England during the war. It was that kind of, you know, resiliency that saw them through their childhood in England, and that’s how I grew up. Whelan said it was great to be back but “there’s a lot ahead.”“One of the things I’m focused on is getting a new car. Whelan also expressed gratitude for the government agencies who helped secure his release.

Persons: CNN — Paul Whelan, ”, “, ” Whelan, Whelan, Marc Fogel, Marc, Trevor, Reed Organizations: CNN, Capitol, Michigan Locations: Russia, PISA, “, England, United States, Germany, readjusting, American

CNN —Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva said she’s “finally being treated as a human being” following her release from Russian detention in a historic prisoner exchange between Washington and the Kremlin last week. “I’ve been waking up from that nightmare,” Kurmasheva told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” in her first television interview since her release. Kurmasheva rushed into the arms of her husband and daughters on the tarmac after greeting Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. The US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist had been detained in October 2023 and found guilty of spreading false information about the Russian army – charges her family and employer deny. Kurmasheva and her husband, Pavel Butorin, have two daughters, including one who turned 13 just minutes after reuniting with her mother.

Persons: Alsu Kurmasheva, she’s “, “ I’ve, ” Kurmasheva, CNN’s Jake Tapper, “, Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Kurmasheva, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Pavel Butorin, Tapper, ”, Pavel, ” Pavel, wasn’t, —, Gershkovich, haven’t, Vladyslav, Ihar, Andrey Kuznechyk, Kurmasheva’s, she’s, we’ll, Vadim Krasikov, Biden, Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, Carstens, Trevor Reed, Brittney Griner, we’ve, We’ve, ” Carstens, ” Sen, Lindsey Graham, Marc Fogel, Fogel, someone’s, Jennifer Hansler Organizations: CNN, Base Andrews, Radio Free, Radio Liberty, Wall Street, RFE, Ukrainian Service, publication’s, publication’s Belarus Service, Belarus Service, ” Hostage, Biden, Hostage Affairs, US, Fox News, South Carolina Republican Locations: American, Washington, Maryland, Radio Free Europe, Russian, Kazan, Moscow, Ankara, ”, Russia, Crimea, publication’s Belarus, Minsk, Belarus, Germany, Berlin

☆ Russia Released 16 Prisoners. Hundreds of Others Were Left Behind.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the 16 people released from Russian captivity on Thursday in a landmark prisoner swap, the exchange brought a moment of momentous relief. Hundreds of prisoners in Russia — including Americans and prominent Russian political activists, journalists and artists — are still waiting, hoping that another diplomatic agreement or turn of events might secure their release. One of them is Marc Fogel, an American history teacher who worked for almost a decade at the Anglo-American school in Moscow. In 2021, when trying to enter Russia, Mr. Fogel was arrested and accused of smuggling drugs after a small amount of medical marijuana was discovered in his luggage. In June 2022, Mr. Fogel, a native of Western Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug smuggling.

Persons: —, Marc Fogel, Fogel Locations: Russia, Russian, Moscow, Western Pennsylvania

☆ Jailed US reporter Evan Gershkovich to stand trial in Russia on espionage charges, authorities say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Anna Chernova | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Russian prosecutors have sent the espionage case against the jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich to court, accusing him of spying for the CIA. Gershkovich, the US government and his employer, the Wall Street Journal, have vehemently denied the charges against him. Less than two weeks after his arrest, Gershkovich was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, which called for his immediate release. Ex-Marine Paul Whelan was arrested in 2018 and is also designated as wrongfully detained. Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained in June 2023, Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina was arrested in January, and American teacher Marc Fogel was arrested in August 2021.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, General’s, –, Gershkovich, “ Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Ksenia Karelina, Marc Fogel Organizations: CNN, CIA, Wall Street, US State Department Locations: American, Yekaterinburg, Russian, Moscow’s, Russia

☆ American journalist Evan Gershkovich marks one year in Russian detention
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

American journalist Evan Gershkovich marked the grim milestone of one year in Russian detention on Friday as US efforts have yet to secure his release. “This has been a really difficult year for our family,” Gershkovich’s sister, Danielle Gershkovich, said at an event last week. Gershkovich is the first journalist to be arrested on such charges since the Cold War, and the Russian government has yet to provide any evidence to support its claim. “This verdict to further prolong Evan’s detention feels particularly painful, as this week marks one year since Evan was arrested and wrongfully detained,” US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said Tuesday. But it is time for the Russian government to let Evan go.”In the past several years, Russia has detained a number of other Americans.

Persons: Evan Gershkovich, ”, Danielle Gershkovich, “ It’s, Gershkovich, Evan, Lynne Tracy, “, “ Evan, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Ksenia Karelina, Marc Fogel, Roger Carstens, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Carstens, Matthew Miller, Paul, Moscow, ’ Gershkovich Organizations: Street, Gershkovich, US State Department, ”, Philadelphia Inquirer Locations: Russian, Yekaterinburg, Moscow’s, Russia, American, Moscow

☆ House Passes Resolution Calling on Russia to Free U.S. Prisoners
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersThe House has weighed in to condemn Mr. Whelan’s detention in the past, but Tuesday’s resolution was the first time that either chamber of Congress had officially called for Mr. Gershkovich’s release. Mr. Gershkovich’s arrest came just a few months after a high-profile prisoner swap in which Brittney Griner, an American W.N.B.A. American officials tried and failed to secure the release of Mr. Whelan in the deal. Mr. Whelan, who holds American, Canadian, Irish and British passports, has insisted he was visiting Russia as a tourist, and was set up. It is not clear which Russian prisoners the Kremlin would seek in exchange for either Mr. Gershkovich or Mr. Whelan, or both.

Persons: Biden, Gershkovich’s, “, Marc Fogel, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Mr, Antony J, Blinken, Roger D, Carstens, Biden’s, Gershkovich, Soviet, Brittney, Viktor Bout, Whelan, Griner’s, ”, — Organizations: American, Kremlin Locations: U.S, Russia, Russian, American, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, United States

☆ 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.

☆ Putin was 'calculated' when he chose to send Brittney Griner back to the US while 'leaving others in custody in Russia,' Rep. Adam Schiff says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Adam Schiff said Russia's Vladimir Putin made a "calculated" choice to only swap Brittney Griner. Other Americans, like Paul Whelan, remain in Russian custody despite efforts to get them home. Putin made a one-for-one swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout to "roil the American" people, Schiff said. Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel remain held in Russia. And I'm so impressed with both the Whelan and Fogel families for their gratitude that one American is free," Schiff said.

☆ 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.

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