Washington D.C. – Washington Examiner, Aug. 01, 2025
When Paul Whelan returned to the United States last year after being wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for more than five years, he came home to nothing.
“At 55, I’m starting over again, almost from zero,” Whelan told the Washington Examiner.
He lost his job and his house and was left realizing, “There’s nothing the federal government is prepared to do,” likening the hurdles he has faced to “a big black hole.”
During Whelan’s five years, seven months, and five days in Russian captivity, his plight became well known across the country. The U.S. government poured time and resources into securing his release.
He and others wrongfully detained by the Russian government received a hero’s welcome when they stepped off the airplane and onto the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews exactly one year ago. It was a triumphant moment, years in the making, when he and journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva were welcomed home by then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris and were reunited with their families after their unlawful detentions.
And yet, Whelan said he feels like the government is ill-suited to help him process his trauma and overcome the seemingly impossible bureaucratic hurdles he has encountered restarting his life.
