Earlier this week I wrote about American Paul Whelan who is imprisoned in Russia on charges of espionage. His family was worried because Whelan missed a previously scheduled phone call to them on Thanksgiving day. It was the first call he’d missed and the family was being told Whelan had been moved to a hospital.

Paul Whelan, a former Marine, was missing as far as his family was concerned. Why was he moved to a hospital? Was he ill? Was his life in danger? John Kirby, NSC spokesman, said the White House was deeply concerned.

Whelan has since been able to make a call to his family and they are considering that call “proof of life.” That is good news. The bad news is that they still don’t know what the alleged medical reason was to move him to a hospital. Kirby confirmed that U.S. consulate personnel spoke with Whelan.

Whelan, 52, has been moved back to a Russian penal colony and had told consular staff he was ‘feeling well.’ Kirby said he was limited in the amount of information he could give, due to privacy concerns.

‘I can confirm that US consulate personnel were able to communicate with Mr. Whelan and he indicated that he is now back at the penal colony to which he had been sentenced to do his time,’ he said.

‘I won’t get into speaking to any specifics of his of his health, for privacy reasons, but I can tell you that he conveyed to consular officers that he was feeling well.

‘But that’s really as far as I can go.’

Whelan’s brother, David, said the family is considering the phone call as proof of life.

‘So the call at least acts as a “proof of life,” even if nothing else has been explained: when Paul went there, why, why the calls stopped, why the U.S. Embassy had to seek information about his whereabouts and the Russian authorities refused to respond, etc,’ his brother told the Associated Press.

Alexei Tyurkin, the chairman of the prison monitoring commission in the Mordovia region where Whelan is incarcerated, said it as ‘planned treatment,’ according to state news agency RIA-Novosti.

The family would like to know, treatment for what?

Kirby said the Biden administration calls for the immediate release of Whelan and Brittney Griner. ‘They shouldn’t have to do one more day in Russia and we’re working very, very hard just to see that outcome take place but I just don’t have an update,’ he added.

There may or may not be a prisoner swap in the works for Whelan and Griner. Negotiations have stalled. The situation is further complicated by the U.S. involvement in Putin’s war in Ukraine. David Whelan remains hopeful.

“The potential for Paul’s release, for Brittney Griner’s release, whether they are going to act or whether they’re going to respond, whether they’re using this as a negotiation tactic, essentially, you know, twisting Paul’s arm, punishing him for for no apparent purpose other than to get the U.S. attention and to encourage them to be more aggressive in their negotiation,” David Whelan says.

However, despite a lengthy sentence, David Whelan says he is confident he’ll see the day his brother is finally brought home, but he isn’t sure his parents will.

“I think at some point he will (come home), for sure. It might be after 16 years, and I think my biggest concern is my parents won’t be here to see him again. And that’s that’s really the hardest that’s what gets me up every morning to do these sorts of interviews, to try to work on Paul’s cases, to get Paul home before my parents die. And that’s a hard that’s a hard goal to have,” David Whelan says.

Let’s hope Paul Whelan is well and a prisoner swap is made soon.