Brittney Griner is freed in prisoner swap with Russia

After almost ten months of being held captive in Russia, Brittney Griner, the American basketball star, was released on Thursday in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer known as “the merchant of death”.

Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and Russia had long shown their interest in his freedom, although the reason is not quite clear.

In a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, with Cherelle, Griner’s wife, by his side, Biden confirmed the release and said that Griner would be back in the United States within 24 hours.

Griner was arrested in February at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, in Russia, after some hash oil was found in her luggage and was convicted to 9 years in prison.

Griner had been recently transferred to a Russian penal colony, infamous for their harsh living conditions and brutality.

She was permitted outside once a day to walk for an hour in a small courtyard, according to her lawyer, and otherwise confined to a cramped cell with two cellmates. She slept on a specially elongated bed to accommodate her 6-foot-9 frame.

In early May, Biden declared Griner to be wrongfully detained by Russia's government. The U.S. believes the Putin regime ordered her arrest so it could use her as leverage.

"Wrongful detention as a bargaining chip is a threat to the safety of everyone traveling and living abroad," U.S. Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan said in May.

The Kremlin denied the case was politically motivated and took months to give a response to the U.S., but finally agreed to the swap.

Despite the Kremlin denying Griner was a political hostage, she was well known in Russia. For years she played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg, which is owned by oligarch Iskander Makhmudov.

"They know who they have," Terri Jackson, executive director of the union representing WNBA players, told NPR, back in June, noting Griner's decorated career both in the U.S. and Russia."She's a hero in their country. They love women's basketball," he said.

The State Department recently affirmed its Level 4 advisory against travel to Russia. Aside from the disruptions related to the country's invasion of Ukraine, Americans are at risk in Russia, the agency said.

"Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on spurious charges, singled out U.S. citizens in Russia, denied them fair and transparent treatment, and have convicted them in secret trials and/or without presenting credible evidence," the advisory states.

On July, Griner wrote a letter to Biden telling him to please not forget about her and the other detainees. “Please do all you can to bring us home,” she wrote.

Unfortunately, Paul Whelan, another American wrongfully detained in Russia since 2020, for espionage accusations, hasn’t been released.

U.S. Administration officials sought Whelan’s release as part of a package deal with Griner, but Russia refused to include him as part of the agreement.