Ex-Marine Paul Whelan was not released alongside returning-to-the-United-States basketball sensation Brittney Griner because Russia requested the release of a murderer spy serving a life sentence in Germany.
According to several sources, negotiations to trade Russian “Mercenary of Death” arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner and Whelan broke down when Russia demanded the inclusion of convicted assassin Vadim Krasikov.
The New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed US sources, that Russia was eager to exchange Griner for Bout since it views them as criminals.
The Times reported that Russia claims Whelan is an American agent and demanded that he would only be exchanged for a Russian equivalent or a person of comparable stature.
CNN claimed in July that the United States does not have any Russian spies in prison and that Russia had floated Krasikov’s name earlier this year. The United States has denied the charges against Whelan.
Former U.S. marine Paul Whelan is still imprisoned in Russia.
The Times said on Friday that German officials refused to release Krasikov when asked by the United States, and an American attempt to organize a three-way compromise in which Germany would receive something also failed.
Krasikov, a former colonel in Russia’s infamous FSB intelligence service, was convicted of murdering Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili in broad daylight on August 23, 2019.
Krasikov followed Khangoshvili around Berlin on a bicycle before shooting him three times with a silenced Glock 26 pistol in the Kleiner Tiergarten park near the German parliament.
The victim, who was seeking asylum in Germany, was a former Chechen militia commander who fought against Russia in the early 2000s, according to German prosecutors.
According to the Washington Post, although German criminals do not typically serve more than 15 years in prison, Krasikov’s conviction contained a finding that would likely impede an early release.
This revelation followed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s declaration in July that the United States had made a “serious proposal” to convince Russia to release both Griner and Whelan.
Whelan was arrested in Russia while attending the wedding of a friend.
Griner, 32, was caught at a Moscow airport in February and was serving a nine-year sentence for possessing two vape cartridges containing less than one gram of cannabis oil after pleading guilty to criminal charges.
Whelan, a 52-year-old corporate security expert from Michigan, was detained in 2018 while attending a friend’s wedding in Moscow. He is currently serving a 16-year jail sentence for what the United States deems to be false espionage accusations.
»Paul Whelan is not released alongside Brittney Griner due to the detained Russian assassin«