Paul Whelan's location unknown amid prisoner swap rumors

A lawyer for Paul Whelan, a US citizen who has been imprisoned in Russia for over five years, said she is currently unable to confirm his immediate whereabouts as rumors of a prisoner swap between the US and Russia grow.

Whelan, a former US Marine who is also an Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on suspicion of spying, charges that both he and the US government deny.

"I receive requests from journalists from various international agencies asking me to clarify whether I know Paul's whereabouts, as there are rumors of a possible exchange," Whelan's lawyer Olga Karlova told Russia's Interfax news agency.

"I have sent a request to the [prison] colony administration, but I'm not getting an answer," she said.

At least seven other prisoners held in Russia were reported to have been moved from their jails or prison colonies in the past few days, fueling speculation of an imminent prisoner exchange, according to Russian media reports.

Russian opposition figure Kara-Murza's location also not known, lawyer says

At the same time, lawyers for jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza said they couldn't visit him at a prison hospital for a second day on Wednesday.

Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen, was convicted by a Russian court last year of treason for publicly denouncing Moscow's full-scale war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

"Today a lawyer for Vladimir Kara-Murza for a second day running was not allowed to visit him in a prison hospital. The exact location of the political prisoner is unknown," his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov wrote on Facebook.

"Court staff and the administration of the prison hospital have already expressed doubts that tomorrow there will be stable video link with Vladimir Kara-Murza," Prokhorov said.

"But at the same time, so far they deny that he has been moved from the hospital," Prokhorov added. 

US officials have for years tried to secure Paul Whelan's release

Whelan, a 54-year-old businessman has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department. 

His name has consistently come up in US-Russia negotiations to secure the release of US citizens wrongfully detained.

After returning to the US following a prisoner swap in 2022, Trevor Reed, also a former US Marine who was imprisoned in Russia, said he was hopeful that detained WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner and Whelan would also have a good chance of being released.

Later in 2022, Griner was released in a prisoner swap, but Whelan remained in prison.

In 2023, the Associated Press reported that President Joe Biden's administration had made a significant offer aimed at securing the release of Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Russia rejected the offer, the State Department said, without offering explanation about the behind-the-scenes diplomacy

rm/wmr (Reuters, AFP)