Paul Whelan expresses feeling deserted by the United States during his interview with the BBC

Paul Whelan, an American citizen, has spent the past five years in a Russian labor camp after being wrongly accused of espionage. In a rare interview from prison, he expressed feeling abandoned by his own country, especially since the US has arranged prisoner swaps with Russia in the past year. Whelan described the decision to leave him behind as a betrayal. His comments come as another American journalist, Evan Gershkovich, prepares to spend his first New Year behind bars on the same charge. Both the US government and Gershkovich's newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, maintain that Russia's case against him is false. The situation highlights Russia's trend of collecting American hostages. Whelan, who also holds UK, Irish, and Canadian passports, expressed frustration at the lack of progress in his case despite visits from ambassadors. He believes that the US needs to push harder to secure his release.