‘Russia’s secret services are hurting’: Paul Whelan’s detention could mark new era in ‘spy’ detentions

US constitutional crisis and Russian desire for revenge could take affair in most unexpected of direction, as Oliver Carroll explains

Friends and family have dismissed any suggestion that Whelan might have been working as an officer of the US intelligence services (PA)

More than a week on from his arrest, we still have a lot to learn about the case of Paul Whelan.

We know he was arrested just before the new year. We know – belatedly – that he holds passports of four countries: his main residence (United States), his birthplace (Canada), where his parents are from (the UK) and his grandparents (Ireland). We know that he was a former US marine; served in Iraq; was discharged dishonourably for an attempt to steal $10,000 (£7,900); that he worked as head of global security for an auto company, visited Russia several times; and was somewhat of a Trump fan.

We have “learned” several things from stories published in media connected to the Russian security services.