The family of Paul Whelan, a US man imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, has confirmed that he has resumed contact with them after more than a week of silence that caused alarm at the White House.

Whelan’s brother David said in a statement that the former marine called his family on Friday for the first time since November 23.

“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 US Embassy had to seek information about his whereabouts and the Russian authorities refused to respond, etc,” David Whelan said.

In his statement on Friday, Kirby said US consular officers indicated that Whelan had been returned from the hospital to the prison colony in the Mordovia region, where he is serving a 16-year sentence.