Russia releases former Marine Paul Whelan in prisoner swap

Russia is releasing former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan as part of a prisoner exchange that also secured freedom for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Whelan had been wrongfully detained by Russian authorities for more than five years, according to the U.S. State Department.

Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan and former U.S. Marine, has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the U.S. government dispute. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 

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"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," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time.

Whelan was given a bad conduct discharge in 2008 after he was convicted on charges that included using fake documents and attempting to steal thousands of dollars while on duty in Iraq. He had been visiting Russia since at least 2007 and had spent more than a decade cultivating friends and contacts in the country. His family insisted Whelan was in Russia for tourism when he was arrested.

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"My brother is not a spy," Whelan’s brother David said shortly after his arrest. "Paul's background is in law enforcement. He has military experience, he's in corporate security."

Experts believe his arrest was the Kremlin’s response to the U.S. imprisonment of a Russian citizen. Maria Butina pleaded guilty in 2018 to a U.S. federal charge of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. Butina had provided information to Russia’s government on key U.S. political figures.

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In November, Whelan's family said he was attacked by a fellow prisoner on a production line in a labor camp. 

Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow. He was accused of espionage and has been detained ever since. A Moscow court last month again rejected his appeal for pre-trial release, extending his detention to at least Jan. 30, 2024. 

At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.

Fox News' Bret Baier and Amy Munneke, as well as Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.