Paul Whelan urges Biden to ‘man up’ and secure his release from Russia prison in Christmas plea
NY Post
Former Marine Paul Whelan, who marked his fifth Christmas in a Russian penal colony this year, has told President Biden to “man up” and and get him home as soon as possible.
“Mr. President,” the 53-year-old told Washington, DC’s WTOP radio on Christmas Eve. “You promised to bring me home. I’m still here. There has to be more that you can do to secure my release.”
“The concern that I have,” Whelan went on, “is that diplomatic efforts have failed and not enough is being done to secure my release from the very top.”
The holiday message follows a phone interview with the BBC last week in which Whelan told the UK broadcaster that “it’s unfathomable to me that they’ve left me behind.”
“They’ve basically abandoned me here,” he added at the time.
In December 2022, Biden signed off on a deal to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison in exchange for setting free arms trader Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death.” At the time, the White House maintained that Moscow was unwilling to release Whelan and promised to continue to work toward securing his freedom.
