INSIDER
The State Department says an American schoolteacher arrested in Russia on drug charges more than three years ago has been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained.
President Joe Biden heaped praise on Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob during an Oval Office meeting for his key role in a recent seven-nation prisoner swap.
In many ways, Manchester is a community rooted in faith. For the past five-and-a-half years, they never lost hope that Paul Whelan would be released. Two weeks ago, their prayers were answered.
The 24-person blockbuster prison swap carried out this week required the U.S. to regroup after the unexpected death in February of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who’d been seen as a key cog in a potential exchange.
The U.S. and Russia completed on Thursday their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries who released individuals in their custody as part of the exchange.
Michigan man Paul Whelan has been released from Russian prison after spending more than five years in custody.
The United States and Russia have completed a 24-person prisoner swap, the largest in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan in a multinational deal that set some two dozen people free.
Russia’s foreign minister blamed “the Americans” for publicly bringing up a possible prisoner exchange involving imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, which he said “isn’t helping.”.
The U.S. Ambassador told Russia’s foreign minister that President Vladimir Putin should release detained Americans, singling out journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has gone on trial in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
Arrests of Americans in Russia have become increasingly common with relations sinking to Cold War lows.
While the Michigan native still holds out hope for an early release, after 2,000 days in custody, that hope for his family fades.
A court in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok has convicted a visiting American soldier of stealing and making threats of murder, and it sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison.
The arrest last week of another American in Russia is likely to hurt Michigan native Paul Whelan.
President Joe Biden says the U.S. is working every day to secure the release of a Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia.
U.S. citizens jailed in Russia include a Wall Street Journal reporter, a vacationing corporate security executive and a dual national visiting her family in Tatarstan.
A lawyer for The Wall Street Journal says Russia must face consequences for its detention of Evan Gershkovich, one of the newspaper's reporters.
Associates of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny say talks had been underway to exchange him for a Russian imprisoned in Germany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is in dialogue with the United States on the issue of bringing home jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich.
The Biden administration says its made a new and significant offer aimed at securing the release of American detainees Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, but Russia has rejected the offer.
President Joe Biden said, "We ain't giving up" on bringing Paul Whelan home to Michigan.
Morning 4 is a quick roundup of stories we think you should know about to start your day.
According to the United States government, Paul Whelan has been wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly five years.
U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy has made her third visit to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been behind bars in Russia since March on charges of espionage.
Paul Whelan has been in Russian custody for four and a half years now. And it turns out his hometown was pulling for him and showing support in a way that has Whelan's family deeply touched.
Paul Whelan has been detained in Russia for 1,606 days, and in a new interview, he's striking a more positive tone about his chances of coming home.
The U_S_ has brought the sister of an American imprisoned in Russia to the U_N_ Security Council for a session being chaired by the Russian foreign minister, urging him to “look into her eyes and see her suffering.”.
His feeling of abandonment comes months after the high-profile prisoner swap that brought WNBA star Britney Griner home, but he still sits in Russia in limbo.
We’ll be talking with David Whelan -- he’s the brother of Novi’s Paul Whelan, who has been in a Russian prison for more than four years.
A top Russian diplomat says Moscow might be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after his trial on espionage charges.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has “no doubt” that Russia has wrongfully detained an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was arrested last week on spying allegations.
The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the Ukraine war, to immediately release a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained last week as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan.
The brother of a Michigan native who’s been detained in Russia for years on accusations of being a spy is calling out former President Donald Trump for failing to free his brother, despite Trump saying retroactively that he would have.
Brittney Griner’s loved ones and extended basketball family were ecstatic when news broke about her release from a Russian prison and that she was on her way back to the United States.
The brother of an American detained in Russia for nearly four years says the Biden administration “made the right decision” to agree to a prisoner exchange that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner.
WNBA star Brittney Griner was freed from Russia in a high-level prisoner swap between the county and the U.S., with the U.S. releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The brother of a Metro Detroit native Paul Whelan said he has been in contact with his brother after he was unexpectedly unreachable in November.
A senior Russian diplomat says Russia and the United States repeatedly came close to reaching agreement on a prisoner exchange and a deal remains possible before the year’s end.
A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow has postponed a round of nuclear arms control talks with the United States set for this week because of stark differences in approach and tensions over Ukraine.
A show of prison artwork by a Russian arms trader serving 25 years in the United States and the focus of speculation about a prisoner swap that could free WBNA star Brittney Griner has opened at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament.
A Melvindale man was arrested during a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia after he lost his temper while waiting in line at the holy site in Kaaba.
President Joe Biden says he hopes Russian President Vladimir Putin will be more willing to negotiate the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner now that the U.S. midterm elections are over.
The Kremlin has reiterated that any discussions about a possible swap involving U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner who is serving a nine-year prison sentence in Russia for drug possession must be strictly confidential.
WNBA star Brittney Griner is at her “absolute weakest moment in life right now” as she faces a hearing in Russia later this month for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.
Venezuela’s government has freed seven Americans imprisoned in the South American country in exchange for the release of two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years by the United States on drug smuggling convictions.
The Biden administration should create an additional senior-level position at the White House National Security Council to focus on cases of Americans wrongfully detained in foreign countries.
Top WNBA players are finding other places to compete this winter, not wanting to go back to Russia after the arrest and conviction of Brittney Griner on drug possession charges and the country's invasion of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden plans to meet at the White House on Friday with the families of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom remain jailed in Russia.
Bill Richardson, who has worked to secure the releases of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, visited Moscow this week and held meetings with Russian leaders.
An update from Paul Whelan’s family as they told Local 4 that there’s considerable concern about Whelan’s health as he remains behind bars in a Russian prison.
Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a frequent emissary in hostage negotiations, says he's hopeful about the chances of a two-for-two prisoner swap that could result in the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan.
The Kremlin says it’s open to talking about a possible prisoner exchange involving American basketball star Brittney Griner but strongly warned Washington against publicizing the issue.
Now that WNBA star Brittney Griner has been convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison, attention turns to the prospect of a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia that could get her home.
Since Brittney Griner last appeared in her trial for cannabis possession, the question of her fate has expanded from a cramped courtroom on Moscow’s outskirts to the highest level of Russia-U.S. diplomacy.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has spoken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and urged Moscow to accept a U.S. proposal to release WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan.
Russia's top diplomat says he’s open to a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner.
The Kremlin has warned that a possible prisoner swap with the United States involving American basketball star Brittney Griner needs to be negotiated quietly without fanfare.
The White House is offering a prisoner swap with Russia, offering an arms dealer known as “The Merchant of Death” in hopes of bringing Novi native Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner back home.
WNBA star Brittney Griner testified at her drug possession trial in Russia that an interpreter translated only a fraction of what was said during questioning when she was detained at Moscow’s airport in February and officials told her to sign documents without giving an explanation.
The latest Russian court hearing in the drug trial of American basketball star Brittney Griner has focused on testimony about countries that regard cannabis as having legitimate medicinal uses.
The spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry says the United States has shown disrespect for Russian law by characterizing basketball star Brittney Griner’s jailing on drug charges as “wrongful detention.”.
A lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner at her drug possession trial has given a Russian court a letter from a U.S. doctor recommending she use cannabis to treat pain.
The drug possession trial of WNBA star Brittney Griner has resumed, with the head of the Russian club she plays for in the offseason and a teammate from that squad testifying in support of her character and what she has meant for women’s basketball in the country.
Ambassador Bill Richardson, who has a reputation for helping bring Americans home from difficult abroad situations, is getting involved in helping free Whelan and hopefully escape some of the turmoil he may have encountered while being held hostage.
LeBron James is publicly criticizing the United States’ handling of WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner’s case in a trailer for an upcoming episode of his television show: “The Shop: Uninterrupted.”.
When Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession in a Russian court, hopes rose that her months of detention may soon be over, either through a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap or a pardon from President Vladimir Putin.
