Paul Whelan is a former US marine and had been to Russia previously Courtesy the Whelan familyAn American detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service on suspicion of espionage is a former US marine who was visiting Moscow for a wedding, his brother has said. Paul Whelan, 48, was taken into custody on December 28, when the FSB claims he was “undertaking an act of spying”. David P. Whelan, a librarian in Ontario, Canada, told The Times that his brother had been on an innocent trip to attend the wedding of a colleague, also a former marine, to a Russian woman. “The marine friend knew that Paul had been to Russia and was savvy about getting around and doing things,” he said. “He was going to join the wedding party in Moscow and then they were all going to head up to…

Source: The Times January 01, 2019 18:00 UTC