The family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was recently detained in Russia, can expect a “long, drawn-out process,” before he’s even given a trial according to the brother of an American held under nearly the same circumstances.

Paul Whelan, now 53, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 while he was on his way to a wedding.

The corporate security executive and Marine Corps. veteran from Michigan was accused of espionage. A Russian court convicted him in June 2020 and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.

Whelan’s past four years offer Gershkovich’s family perhaps the closest blueprint for what they and the reporter might also endure.

Gershkovich was arrested March 29 while reporting from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. He was detained on suspicion of espionage.

Speaking to The Post Tuesday, Whelan’s brother, David, said Paul’s charges were “identical” to the allegations against Gershkovich.

Despite the circumstances that led to their charges being different, “fundamentally they’re the same: they’re concocted charges of espionage based on paranoia, rather than reality,” David Whelan said by phone.

Gershkovich, a 31-year-old US national whose parents fled the Soviet Union, faces up to 20 years in a Russian prison if convicted.

“They happened to have just been the wrong person at the wrong time sort of thing.”

David Whelan

Whelan pointed to Russia’s criminal procedure code that “really documents everything that is going to be happening, down to details.”

First, Gershkovich will have a hearing on May 29, roughly eight weeks after his arrest, Whelan said. But Gershkovich’s family should not expect to hear about the validity of the charges or the evidence against him.

Instead, they should plan for the hearings – which will likely take place “every eight to 12 weeks” – to most likely be “just a discussion about whether Mr. Gershkovich stays in Lefortovo Prison, or if he gets house arrest or if he gets bail.”

He described “this cycle that will start to happen that really isn’t leading to anything other than a trial,” which will likely be held in 12 to 18 months, Whelan said.

“It will be a long, drawn-out process with a lot of additional judicial theater that isn’t actually going to have any impact on or give him an opportunity to break out from the inevitable result.”

That result, Whelan said, would “almost definitely” be a conviction, Whelan predicted.

Whelan said news of Gershkovich’s detention has brought back memories of his own family’s experience with his brother’s first week in Russian custody.

“You start to realize everyone goes down the same path – rather than focusing on the enemy, the Kremlin, people start talking about the individual who is involved.

“And it really has nothing to do with the individual. They happened to have just been the wrong person at the wrong time sort of thing.”

He added: “It’s a really awful thing for any family to experience.”

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke about Gershkovich and Whelan Wednesday morning in Brussels.

He said the US State Department sees “no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens around the world, and that includes those who may be wrongfully detained, held hostage, otherwise kept from coming home and being with their families.”

Blinken said his agency was working “through the determination on wrongful detention” for Gershkovich, and are “deliberately, but expeditiously” carrying out the process.

The “wrongful detention” classification would allow for more resources to be given to Gershkovich’s case through the State Department’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.

“In my own mind, there’s no doubt that he’s being wrongfully detained by Russia. Which is exactly what I said to Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov when I spoke to him over the weekend and insisted that Evan be released immediately. 

The US has formally declared Whelan a wrongful detainee.

Blinken said a “proposal” related to Whelan’s release has been “on the table for some months.”

“Again with Foreign Minister Lavrov, I reiterated that Russia should take that proposal so we can bring Paul home,” Blinken said.

David Whelan recalled how his brother was “left behind” when two American detainees – Trevor Reed and WNBA athlete Britney Griner – were released in the past months.

“Now that Mr. Gershkovich’s case is really identical to Paul’s – same charges, same likelihood of a long sentence, all the trappings are the same – I think I would be very concerned if resources were used to bring him before they were used to bring Paul home.”

He added: “I would hope that to the extent that there are resources available, they will allow Paul to come home, and maybe both Paul and Mr. Gershkovich at the same time.”