NEW YORK, August 9. /TASS/. Staying in an isolation ward of the Mordovian prison colony did not harm US citizen Paul Whelan, who was convicted in Russia for espionage. The brother of the convict, David Whelan, said this on Sunday to CNN.

"He seems to have survived solitary confinement none the worse for wear but he was wary on the phone," David Whelan said in an email to CNN, adding that Paul "mentioned to our parents that his ability to call is 'on sufferance' and so perhaps he anticipates additional retribution."

A US State Department spokesperson told CNN that they "are aware of reports that authorities have released Paul from isolated detention."

On Sunday, Paul Whelan’s lawyer Olga Karlova told TASS that the US citizen, convicted in Russia on espionage charges, has been released from a disciplinary cell he was placed in for violating regulations. He called the parents on Saturday.

Whelan’s brother said earlier that Paul had been placed in an isolation ward for a minor violation.

On December 28, 2018, Whelan, who has the citizenship of the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland, was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow while on an alleged spy mission. The FSB opened a criminal case against him on charges of espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. The Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in a high security colony.