H. Res. 272 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
June 14, 2023. 
Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of 
Novi, Michigan, and a veteran of the Marine Corps; 
Whereas, on December 22, 2018, Paul Whelan traveled to 
Moscow, Russia, for the wedding of a personal friend; 
Whereas, on December 28, 2018, the Federal Security Serv-
ice of the Russian Federation arrested Paul Whelan at 
the Metropol Hotel in Moscow and charged him with es-
pionage; 
Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any 
evidence of supposed wrongdoing with respect to Paul 
Whelan; 
Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison 
and was held in pretrial detention at the prison for more 
than 19 months after his arrest; 
Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan’s pretrial de-
tention multiple times without publicly presenting jus-
tification or evidence of wrongdoing; 
Whereas even Vladimir Zherebenkov, the lawyer appointed by 
the Federal Security Service to represent Paul Whelan, 
said on May 24, 2019, ‘‘[The Federal Security Service] 
always roll[s] out what they have, but in this case, we’ve
•HRES 272 EH 
seen nothing concrete against Whelan in five months. 
That means there is nothing.’’; 
Whereas then-United States Ambassador to the Russian Fed-
eration, Jon Huntsman, responded on April 12, 2019, to 
a question about the detention of Paul Whelan, ‘‘If the 
Russians have evidence, they should bring it forward. We 
have seen nothing. If there was a case, I think the evi-
dence would have been brought forward by now.’’; 
Whereas then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Rus-
sian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, 
and urged him to ensure United States citizens are not 
unjustly held abroad; 
Whereas the Kremlin has refused to provide Paul Whelan 
with full access to his lawyer, and the so-called evidence 
against Paul Whelan and any evidence he has seen is in 
Russian, a language Whelan does not read or speak; 
Whereas the Lefortovo pretrial detention facility and the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to provide medical 
treatment for Paul Whelan’s medical condition, despite 
being aware of its worsening state, resulting in emer-
gency surgery on May 29, 2020; 
Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 
2020, and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian labor camp 
by a three-judge panel, in a trial witnessed by United 
States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred to the 
trial as ‘‘a mockery of justice’’ due to the denial of a fair 
trial and the exclusion of defense witnesses; 
Whereas, in August 2020, on an unknown day, Paul Whelan 
was secretly transferred to camp IK–17, a penal labor 
camp in Mordovia, Russia, where he is forced to work 6 
days a week in a garment factory;
•HRES 272 EH 
Whereas Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul 
Whelan at the labor camp in Mordovia, stated that ‘‘Rus-
sian authorities * * * have never shown the world evi-
dence of his guilt’’, and reiterated his call for the Russian 
authorities to correct this injustice and release Paul 
Whelan; 
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Rus-
sian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 
2021, and urged him to release United States citizens de-
tained in the Russian Federation, including Paul Whelan 
and Trevor Reed, so that they are able to return home 
to their families in the United States; 
Whereas, in August 2021, Whelan was released from a 
month-long stay in a solitary confinement at the IK–17 
penal colony in the region of Mordovia; 
Whereas, on April 27, 2022, the House of Representatives 
unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution calling for the 
release of Whelan; 
Whereas Secretary Blinken ‘‘pressed’’ the Kremlin to accept 
an offer by the United States that would bring Paul 
Whelan and Brittney Griner home in July 2022; 
Whereas, in November 2022, Paul Whelan was unable to con-
tact his family for more than a week, during which time 
Russian authorities claimed Whelan had been sent to the 
hospital; 
Whereas Russian authorities refused to release Paul Whelan 
as part of the prisoner exchange in December 2022; 
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, ‘‘His de-
tention remains unacceptable, and we continue to press 
for his immediate release at every opportunity’’; and