Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) said on November 29 that Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen who is serving a 16-year espionage sentence in a Russian prison, was assaulted by another inmate, an attack prison officials said was sparked by "political differences" but that Whelan's family said was likely prompted by anti-American sentiment.
The FSIN also said a further escalation of the conflict on November 28 was prevented and Whelan, who sustained a scratch under his eye, was provided with medical assistance at the notorious prison in Mordovia where he is incarcerated.
Arrested in 2018 in Russia, the former U.S. Marine was convicted on spying charges in 2020. Both he and the U.S. government have denied the 53-year-old is a spy.
The Biden administration has designated Whelan as "wrongfully detained" -- a term that effectively says the case against him is politically motivated -- and has called for his immediate release.
Relatives said Whelan described the attack as "relatively minor" but that he was "concerned that these sorts of attacks can occur any time and, due to the various sharp implements in the workshop including the shears the other prisoner was holding today, could escalate into a far more serious attack."
"Paul is a target because he is an American and anti-American sentiment is not uncommon among the other prisoners," they said in a statement, adding that Whelan believes prison officials are taking the matter "seriously."
Whelan, a Michigan-based corporate security executive, was arrested in December 2018 while visiting Moscow for a friend's wedding. Russia claimed Whelan was caught with a flash drive containing classified information.
Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian, and Irish citizenship, said he was set up in a sting operation and had thought the drive, given to him by a Russian acquaintance, contained vacation photos.
The detentions of Whelan and other Americans comes at a time when relation between Moscow and Washington are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War over the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has been accused of detaining the Americans to use as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians jailed in the United States. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for allegedly spying -- a charge he and the newspaper vehemently deny -- in March and remains in pretrial custody.
Prague-based U.S. journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who has worked for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service for some 25 years, was attending to a family emergency in her native Tatarstan when she was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at the Kazan airport, where both of her passports and phone were confiscated.
After five months spent waiting for a decision in her case, Kurmasheva was fined 10,000 rubles ($103) for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities.
While waiting for the return of her travel documents, Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18 and this time charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent," a legal designation Russia has used since 2012 to label and punish critics of government policies.
She also remains in pretrial detention.
