• Paul Whelan, a US citizen and former Marine convicted of espionage in Russia, was seen for the first time in three years Monday when he appeared on the Russian state-funded news channel RT in a video recorded in May. BBC News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• In the footage, Whelan – who denies the espionage allegations and declined to be interviewed – is seen with other inmates in various areas of the prison in a penal colony in the Mordovia region. Reuters (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• Whelan, who holds US, Irish, British, and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 for allegedly participating in an intelligence operation. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020 on espionage charges. CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)
• On Tuesday – following years of US-Russian negotiations over Whelan's release – Washington called the video footage "reassuring" and urged the immediate release of the 52-year-old, who the Biden administration claims is being wrongfully detained. ABC News
• Late last year, US Sec. of State Antony Blinken said he had made a "substantive proposal" to the Russian government, but Whelan wasn't considered in a prisoner swap. Al Jazeera (LR: 2 CP: 1)
• In December, Moscow instead released US basketball star Brittney Griner in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout. US journalist Evan Gershkovich also remains in Russian custody on a 20-year espionage conviction. FOX News (LR: 4 CP: 4)

Pro-Russia narrative:

• While Western media acts concerned about US spies in Russian custody, it should focus more on the US hunting Russians in other countries and jailing them by the dozens on trumped-up charges. Washington lives by its own rules, ignoring the interests of other countries, but Moscow will never accept these double standards and will continue to push for the release of its citizens in US custody.
  RT (LR: 3 CP: 1)

Anti-Russia narrative:

• While RT is nothing but a Kremlin propaganda mouthpiece, the video at least proves Whelan is healthy and unbroken. At the same time, it underscores yet again how Russia is locking up innocent people to use as political bargaining chips, even while the US isn’t holding any high-level Russian spies. While the US is doing its best to bring its citizens home, it relies on the help of its allies in Moscow's cynical game.
  CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)