Paul Nicholas Whelan (born March 5, 1970) is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship.

[3][6] He was raised partly in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan where he and his twin brother David graduated from Huron High School in 1988.

[10] The Chelsea Police, however, said he worked in lesser roles and as a part-time officer from 1990 to 1996, while the Washtenaw County sheriff reported no record of his employment.

[11] After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts "related to larceny", he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge.

"[15] When arrested in Russia, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan.

[11]His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with the U.S. intelligence community, federal agents and foreign embassies.

[16] Whelan traveled to Russia several times from 2006 and maintained an intermittent presence on a Russian-language social media website, VKontakte (VK), where he had approximately 70 contacts.

The independent Latvian-based publication Meduza reported that the wedding attendees all banded close together for the duration of the holiday, and were taken aback by Whelan's decision to spend the day alone.

[9] They further claim that Whelan's arrest is connected to tensions between Russia and the United States, including the detention of confessed unregistered foreign agent Maria Butina.

[4][e] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "We've made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges, come to understand what it is he's been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return.

"[36] On January 4, 2019, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We don't agree with individuals being used in diplomatic chess games... We are all extremely worried about him and his family.

"[9] A few weeks later, Zherebenkov said Whelan had been unaware of the contents of the USB drive and believed it contained material solely of personal value such as "photographs, videos, anything at all, about his previous holiday in Russia.

[55] Family members said Whelan had been told that he had been arrested to be exchanged for a Russian prisoner in the United States, mentioning Konstantin Yaroshenko (who was released in return for American Trevor Reed), Viktor Bout, or Roman Seleznev.

[56] On July 27, 2022, it was announced that President Joe Biden had offered a trade for Whelan and WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug charges, in exchange for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed "The Merchant of Death".

[57] The Russian side insisted on the additional release of Vadim Krasikov, an assassin serving a life sentence for murder in Germany.

[63] On August 16, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Whelan on the phone and told him to "keep the faith and we're doing everything we can to bring you home as soon as possible.

"[64] On November 28, 2023, David Whelan discussed in an email to supporters that Paul had stated he was assaulted during his time at the camp; he was punched in the face by another inmate while working at a sewing table.