Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who the U.S. says is wrongfully detained in Russia, told CNN this week that a prison official is calling on inmates to pick fights with him to coax him into retaliating—which would allow guards to discipline him. He said he’s certain the orders are coming from an official because a prisoner demanded he cough up “$1,100 protection money,” which was the “exact amount” he had in his prison account. Whelan, 53, has been detained since Russia accused him of being a spy in 2018. He told CNN he was transferred to a new barracks after failing to hand over the protection money and is now surrounded by inmates who take stimulants and carry knives, which “can make them wild and violent.” He called on the Russian government to do more to ensure his safety behind bars and said he feels that U.S. officials—who have negotiated a number of prisoner swaps during the Biden administration, with the most recent coming Wednesday—have abandoned him.
