### Former US Marine Paul Whelan Details Harrowing Experience in Russian Prison

Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, recounts his harrowing experience following his arrest in Russia, leading to years of imprisonment that he describes as "monotonous and filthy." The 54-year-old was in Moscow at the Metropole Hotel for a fellow Marine's wedding when an old Russian acquaintance, a junior officer in the frontier guards, visited him unexpectedly.

The acquaintance handed Whelan a thumb drive, claiming it contained photos and videos from a previous trip. Moments later, men in civilian clothes, some with faces obscured by balaclavas, stormed into the room. One of them declared, "We are with the Federal Security Service, and you are under arrest for espionage." Whelan, bewildered, protested his innocence.

Speaking from Washington in his first comprehensive interview since being released on August 1, Whelan recalled that he initially thought the December 2018 arrest was a prank. However, he soon found himself confined to a 9-foot-square cell in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo Prison, historically known for the torture of political prisoners during the Soviet era. This marked the beginning of Whelan's grueling journey through Russia's severe and often surreal criminal justice system, lasting five years, seven months, and five days.

At Lefortovo, Whelan survived an emergency hernia surgery conducted in the middle of the night under dire conditions. Half of the hospital's overhead lights were non-functional, and dropped instruments were simply picked up and reused. Following his conviction, he was transferred to a labor camp where he endured a sparse diet of bread, tea, and watery fish soup. He also faced the indignity of once-a-week cold showers and tedious days sewing buttons on winter uniforms for government workers.

Whelan's account provides a stark insight into the brutal realities of Russia's penal system and the trials faced by individuals caught in cross-national legal tangles.