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US envoy to Russia to visit Paul Whelan in penal colony in Mordovia

Whelan, who has citizenship of the UK, the US, Canada and Ireland, was detained in the middle of an espionage action in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow on December 28, 2018

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy heads to the penal colony in Russia’s Mordovia to visit US national Paul Whelan, sentenced for espionage, the US embassy said on its Telegram channel.

"Ambassador Tracy heads to the IK-17 colony in Mordovia to visit […] US national Paul Whelan," the embassy said.

Whelan, who has citizenship of the UK, the US, Canada and Ireland, was detained in the middle of an espionage action in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow on December 28, 2018. The Federal Security Service (FSB) investigative directorate initiated a criminal case over charges of espionage. The Moscow city court found Whelan guilty and sentenced him to 16 years in a penal colony.

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