The Kremlin's former hostage stated that foreigners in Russian prisons were sent to war in Ukraine

To spread: Paul Wilan was released in August 2024 as part of the exchange between the Western countries, as well as Russia and Belarus. Paul and 15 more hostages were replaced by the Killer of the FSB Vadim Krasikov and the spies of the Russian Federation. Currently, Vilan still cannot establish his life in the US. "You are literally starting over. The people like me who have returned home after five and a half years are not so much left. There is no car. There is no car. There is no work. There is no.

Paul Wilan, a former US Marine Corps, was arrested in 2018 when he came to Moscow for a friend's wedding. The court sentenced him to 16 years of colony on charges of espionage. He and US authorities declared his innocence. According to Vilan, returning home to Michigan was a test for him. "I took some time to feel comfortable, riding the same streets that I traveled before, walking in the park and doing the usual affairs, especially with my dog when he was alive," Vilan said.

His dog died while he served the term in the Russian colony. Paul Vilan was unable to find a new job. He explained that some companies do not hire people who have been in prison, regardless of whether this is an imprisonment was illegal, and he has to compete with people who have no six -year break in the resume. "Most people understand the problem of illegal detention. But they do not know what to do with it. This does not fit into their policies or procedures," the Kremlin's former hostage said.

Vilan worked with representatives of the Democratic Party from Michigan Debbie Dingll and Gale Stevens, as well as others to pass a law "which will finance medical, dental and psychological assistance listed in Levinson's law that has never been funded, as well as retarded, etc. Paul Vilan also wants to meet with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss this issue.

The Vilan maintains the connection with other prisoners who, along with him, served their sentences in the Russian correctional colony in Mordovia. Including well -known journalists, Evan Gershkovich and ALSU Kurmasheva, who were exchanged for Russian spies with him. This institution, IK-17, is now closed, and Instead there will be Ukrainian prisoners of war, Vilan said. He stated that the conditions of keeping there were terrible. "Food is worse than ours. In Russia, tremendous economic problems.

Prison guards are dissatisfied. The guards are not enough for everyone," he said. While Paul Wilan was serving his term in Russia, he tried to kill another prisoner. According to him, prisoners, especially foreigners, say that if they want to get out, they will have to go to fight in Ukraine on the side of Russia.

In 2024, the countries of the West exchanged Paul Wilan and others, which were illegally detained in the Russian Federation and Belarus, on Russian spies and even Killer FSB Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to a lifelong term in Germany for the murder of Zelimman Hangoszvili, a participant of the Second Chechen War. Ten people have arrived in the Russian Federation, including the Dulsev spy couple who lived in Slovenia under Argentine passports, and two of their minor children.