Paul Whelan Devastated by Griner Release

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Russian detention

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Russian American reporter

NBC News

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Paul Whelan was devasted at being left behind in a Russian labor camp as other Americans were released

Summary

Nutrition label

66% Informative

Paul Whelan says he was devastated when a Biden administration official told him Brittney Griner was being released from Russian detention after nine months and he was not.

The former Marine says he kept his spirits up by singing “ The Star-Spangled Banner ” every morning for five years .

He was released in August in one of the biggest prisoner swaps since the Cold War .

The only way the U.S. will be rid of Putin is if he suffers “a heart attack,” Whelan says.

He says he realized that his ordeal might be coming to an end in July when two FSB agents showed up at the labor camp and told him to fill out and sign a request for a pardon.

He was taken to a Moscow prison, where he was placed in solitary confinement for five days .

Then, on Aug. 1 , he said he was taken on a plane and, accompanied by an FSB "minder," flown to Turkey .

VR Score

Informative language

Neutral language

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

Offensive language

possibly offensive