CNN
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Paul Whelan, an American who was illegally detained in Russia for five and a half years, said on Sunday that he had passed information to Western officials from fellow prisoners of war who were fighting for Russia on the front lines in Ukraine.
“The prisoners who went from the camps to the front lines were communicating, and they would communicate with us, and I was sending their communications back to the four governments,” Whelan said. On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” he mentioned the four countries he holds citizenship in: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland.
Whelan added that he and others were able to communicate with former prisoners through “burner” phones, which were also available while in a Russian forced labor camp in Mordovia.
“Through illegal cell phones,” Whelan said. “Yeah, we had a burner phone.”
Whelan added that the guards “turned a blind eye” in exchange for goods such as cigarettes.
“A Russian prison guard gets paid $300 to $400 a month. You give him a carton of cigarettes and he can do whatever he wants,” Whelan added.
During his years in detention, consular officials from four governments met regularly with Mr. Whelan to check on him and provide updates on efforts to secure his release.
Mr. Whelan took 450 prisoners from his camp as part of a recruitment drive by mercenary groups, including the Wagner Group, which enrolled tens of thousands of prisoners from prisons across Russia to step up Russia’s brutal invasion. said he went to fight in Ukraine. Whelan said his camp was primarily made up of young people from Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
“Four hundred and fifty people went from my camp. I knew them all. Some of them are dead. Some are missing arms and legs. They all have some kind of PTSD. They have had a traumatic experience,” he said. “They were used on the front lines to get through minefields. They were used as artillery fodder. They were sent out in front of patrols to try to bombard the enemy. That’s why Russia That’s what they’re doing to people. And they’re all young. Putin is throwing away his youth in Ukraine.”
Whelan, a former US Marine, was released earlier this year as part of a major prisoner exchange between the US and Russia. In a historic exchange that was the result of years of complex behind-the-scenes negotiations involving the United States, a total of eight people were returned to the Kremlin in exchange for the release of 16 Russian prisoners, including four Americans. , Russia and Germany.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
