Paul Whelan, a former US Marine, said he feels “abandoned” and betrayed by his country after being imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, the BBC reported in an interview published on Wednesday.
Whelan, 53, has been imprisoned since 2018 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage, a charge the US government says is baseless.
He is currently in prison in Mordovia – about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Moscow – a region known for its harsh prisons.
Whelan was excluded from recent prisoner exchanges negotiated between Russia and the United States.
“They abandoned me here,” he told the BBC by phone. “I am very worried.
“With every case, mine goes to the back of the line. They kind of leave me in the dust. And at this point, this juncture, it’s very troubling.”
Whelan, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian passports, was working in security for a US vehicle parts company when he was arrested in Moscow in 2018.
He has always maintained that the evidence against him was false.
He told the BBC that he spends his days sewing overalls and hats in a prison factory, and that his unheated barracks have black mold on the walls.
In November, Whelan’s family said he was “hit in the face” by a new prisoner, breaking his glasses.
Russia and the United States exchange accusations of detaining each other’s citizens for political purposes.
Earlier in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted Moscow and Washington to find a solution to release Whelan and detained Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovich.
On December 14, a Moscow court ruled that Gershkovitch, who previously worked for Agence France-Presse, be detained until January 30.
Gershkovitch (32 years old) was arrested on charges of espionage during a press trip at the end of March in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains.
He, his employer and the US government have rejected the espionage allegations. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
“There are contacts on this issue and the dialogue is continuing, but it is not easy,” Putin said during his year-end press conference on December 14.
“I hope we will find a solution. But the American side must also listen to us and make a decision that suits the Russian Federation.”
The US State Department said that Russia has so far rejected all US offers to release Gershkovitch and Whelan.
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