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A year after his dramatic rescue from Russian imprisonment, Paul Whelan is back in the United States. However, his return to the United States has presented the former U.S. Marine with new and serious problems like PTSD, unemployment, losing his house and car, and not having health insurance. His return to American life has been anything but easy.
In a recent interview with CNN, he said:
“You’re literally starting over. For people like me who have come home after five-and-a-half years, we really don’t have very much. House is gone. Cars are gone. Employment’s gone. No health insurance.”
Whelan had been detained in Moscow in 2018 while attending a friend's wedding. He was "violently arrested" by 20 FSB officers, Russia's intelligence service, and eventually sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony called the IK-17 in Mordovia on espionage grounds that he has consistently denied.
The "violent arrest" of Whelan in his hotel room has caused him psychological trauma, as he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He recalled this incident in an interview with WXYZ Detroit 7 Action News:
"FSB comes into my room, where I am violently arrested. 'Mr Whelan, you’re under arrest for espionage,' and so I said, 'I haven’t committed espionage.' 'Well, we think you have.'"
Paul Whelan's stint in prison also resulted in personal losses. His dog passed away while he was imprisoned, and returning to Michigan brought with it unfamiliar allergies and a sense of emotional separation. Whelan told CNN:
“It took a little bit of time for me to kind of feel comfortable driving down the same streets that I used to or going to a park or doing things that I used to do, especially with my dog when she was alive.
He added:
“Doing routine things that I hadn’t done for five-and-a-half, six years, and then I was doing them again, and it did take a few months just to kind of get back into the hang of it.””
Paul Whelan struggles to rebuild his life after imprisonment
Being wrongfully imprisoned has caused Paul Whelan a lot of trouble. He faces unemployment with a six-year career gap on his résumé, along with the stigma of being incarcerated, which has cost him multiple job opportunities and respect. He told CNN:
“Most people understand the wrongful detention issue. They don’t know what to do with it. It doesn’t necessarily fit into their policies or procedures.”
Paul Whelan now lives with his ageing parents in Manchester, Michigan, after being denied unemployment benefits and health insurance.
Turning pain into purpose
After going through life's toughest battle, Paul Whelan is now using his platform to campaign for those Americans wrongfully detained. He is working with Michigan officials, particularly the Democratic Representatives Debbie Dingell and Haley Stevens, to get government funding for the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
The Levinson Act is named after former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007. It was designed to increase rights for Americans unlawfully incarcerated abroad. However, major provisions of the statute remain underfunded or underutilised.
Mikaela Johnson, who is Dingell's Deputy Chief of Staff, told CNN:
“Representative Dingell works closely with Paul Whelan to understand and address the challenges political prisoners face after returning home. One of those challenges is ensuring access to medical treatment and mental health resources needed to recover from traumatic experiences.”
Johnson added:
“She is working on legislation that will address these issues that have come up in her work with Paul."
Whelan hopes to meet with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss these issues.
Behind Russian prison bars
During Paul Whelan's imprisonment in Mordovia, he had witnessed a lot of human rights breaches. The penal colony is now closed, but it was known for its terrible living circumstances, limited access to healthcare, and psychological manipulation of convicts, particularly foreigners.
Paul Whelan is still in contact with the former inmates and mentioned that the current prisoners are being promised early release from prison for fighting in Ukraine.
Whelan has maintained a friendship with people who faced a similar fate to his, which includes people such as Ivan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal writer who was also released as part of a prisoner exchange, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a major Russian opposition figure.
August 2025 marks one year of his release from IK-17, and Paul Whelan plans to celebrate it in style. Speaking to CNN, he told them:
“There’s a special bottle of scotch that I have that I’ll probably open, and I think I’ve got a box of cigars sitting around.”
Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.
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