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Russian state media have published footage of American Paul Whelan in a prison in Russia.
RT (Russia Today) news channel showed footage of the company's former executive from Michigan in a remote prison in Mordovia, southeast of Moscow.
In the video, Mr Whelan is seen alongside other inmates as he works on a sewing machine in prison uniform.
"Today is the first time I've seen what it looks like since June 2020," his brother David Whelan said in an email.
He said the Russia Today channel had gone to film Mr Whelan in prison in May and that when he refused, he was punished by prison staff. In the video released, Mr Whelan can be heard telling the questioner that he will not answer.
It is not clear when this footage was filmed. Mr Whelan was arrested in 2018 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage charges.
Mr. Whelan and Washington deny that he engaged in espionage activity in Russia.
President Biden's administration had hoped to secure Mr. Whelan's release during the negotiations that led to the release from Russian prisons last December of American basketball star Brittney Griner.
US officials said Washington had presented Moscow with a "serious proposal" to secure Mr Whelan's release.
This month it was announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Mr Whelan by phone.
Russia continues to detain American citizen Evan Gershkovich, who worked for the Wall Street Journal. He is accused of espionage activity and can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. /VOA
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