![]() ![]() Whelan, the Novi man the Russian government alleges was spying in Moscow when it arrested him Friday. He traveled the world for business and for pleasure that much is known about Paul N. Due to privacy considerations for Mr Whelan and his family, we have nothing further at this time.Watch Video: American citizen accused of espionage, detained in Russia Ambassador Huntsman subsequently spoke by telephone with Mr Whelan’s family. Huntsman has been US ambassador to Russia since October 2017.Ī state department spokesperson said: “Ambassador Huntsman expressed his support for Mr Whelan and offered the embassy’s assistance. “An ambassadorial visit by a political appointee escalates the situation and raises the stakes, makes it harder to resolve the situation.” “He should have sent a career consular officer,” said Vladimir Frolov. The US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, visited Whelan in prison on Wednesday, a move described as “a rookie mistake” by one Russian foreign policy analyst. Zherebenkov said his client was holding up well and had a good sense of humour. “This time I was not aware that he was in Russia until I sent him my Christmas greetings on the 25th, and he responded saying that he’s in Moscow, and that he plans to go to St Petersburg next.” I haven’t seen him since then,” the VK friend said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “When he visited Russia in 2008, I met him in person, we had a brief sightseeing tour of my city. One of his VK “friends” said he had first been in touch with Whelan more than a decade ago, when the two exchanged contacts on a now defunct pen pals website. ![]() Whelan has 59 friends on his VK page, including some former students at the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in Moscow. The pinned message at the top of his VK page reads: “Next stop, Moscow … ” In one photograph, he is wearing a Spartak Moscow football top. Whelan’s brother, David, told the Guardian: “We have not had any details from the state department about the circumstances of Paul’s arrest.”Ī social media page apparently belonging to Paul Whelan on VK, or VKontakte, the Russian version of Facebook, contains at least one clear reference to a visit to Moscow, as well as a number of short Russian-language messages such as “Happy Victory Day” and “Forward, President Trump”. The news agency often cites unnamed security service sources in its articles. “The US citizen tried to determine if his acquaintance possessed information that could be of interest to American intelligence services, or if anyone in his close circles had access to such information,” read the Rosbalt report. He would then, the source said, meet up with his online acquaintances individually in Moscow “over a bottle”. The news agency said that according to its source Whelan began making contact with potential Russian informants on internet forums and chatrooms about 10 years ago. Rosbalt did not say what had happened to the Russian citizen. The information could not be independently verified by the Guardian. Officers from the FSB intelligence agency then reportedly burst into the room and arrested Whelan. On Thursday, a Russian news outlet claimed Whelan was arrested just minutes after receiving a USB drive that contained the names of people employed at a top secret state organisation.Ĭiting a security service source, Rosbalt news agency said the 48-year-old American received the USB drive from a Russian citizen who visited him in his room at the Metropol hotel in Moscow on Friday. ![]()
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