• The family of Paul Whelan, the ex-Marine jailed in Russia since 2021, is “devastated” after he was excluded from the prisoner swap Wednesday that freed basketball star Brittney Griner, according to a statement.
• Russian authorities detained Whelan, who was working as a security contractor, in 2018 on what the U.S. said were fabricated espionage charges and sentenced him in 2020 to 16 years in prison.
• “Our family is still devastated,” Whelan’s brother, David, said in an emailed statement to CBS News. “I can’t even fathom how Paul will feel when he learns, his hopes had soared with the knowledge that the U.S. government was taking concrete steps for once toward his release.”

Tagged: U.S. Military