Captive rips Joe ‘betrayal’

Retired Marine Paul Whelan is accusing President Biden of a “serious betrayal” by abandoning him to a brutal Russian prison on bogus spying charges.

“It’s five years. It’s unfathomable to me that they’ve left me behind,” Whelan, 53, told the BBC by phone from a remote labor camp. “They’ve basically abandoned me here.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the US is “very actively working” to free Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is also being held in Russia on espionage charges.

Both maintain their innocence, and the US considers them “wrongfully detained.”

But Whelan holds out little hope, having heard such promises before, he told the BBC, whose correspondent said he has never heard the retired Marine sound so frustrated or pessimistic.

“All the promises made have been empty,” Whelan said.

“I’m extremely concerned. With each case, my case is going to the back of the line,” he said of seeing other Americans, like WNBA star Brittney Griner, being released in prisoner swaps without him. “They’ve kind of just left me in the dust.”

While Blinken said Wednesday the US “will leave no stone unturned” in trying to get him and Gershkovich home, Whelan accused the Biden administration of not doing enough.

“I know the US have all sorts of proposals, but it’s not what the Russians want,” he complained, with President Vladimir Putin recently confirming a deal would have to be “one that suits” him.

“The problem is, it’s my life that’s draining away while they do this. It’s been five years!” he said.

Whelan added that his living conditions have “seriously declined.”