TASS, August 5. US citizen Paul Whelan who was found guilty of spying against Russia has arrived in prison in Russia’s Mordovia to serve his sentence, representative of the regional Public Oversight Commission Valery Krutov told TASS Wednesday.

"Yes, he has arrived," Krutov said when asked about Whelan.

According to him, Whelan will spend about two weeks in prison No. 18 for quarantine and will later be transferred to high security prison No. 17.

Krutov noted that the commission he represents is not planning to visit Whelan any time soon since there are no reasons for such a visit. "If he arrived and was settled in prison No. 18 and not in hospital, that means his health is fine," Krutov suggested.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters that the issue of swapping Whelan for any Russian citizens imprisoned in the US had not been discussed with Washington yet.

It was earlier reported that the Moscow City Court had issued an order for the Lefortovo detention center to begin enforcing Whelan’s sentence. On December 28, 2018, former US marine Paul Whelan, who also holds British, Canadian and Irish citizenship, was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow while on a spy mission. The FSB opened a criminal case against him on charges of espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. On June 15, the Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. Whelan pleaded not guilty dismissing the criminal case as a provocation by Russian special services.