Brittney Griner is coming home.
The two-time women’s basketball Olympic gold medal winner for the United States and WNBA star has been released from a Russian penal colony in exchange for Russian citizen and suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to U.S. and Russian government officials.
“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” said U.S. President Joe Biden at The White House. He was joined by Griner’s wife Cherelle.
“After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along,” said Biden.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials also confirmed Griner was exchanged for Bout at Abu Dhabi Airport on Thursday.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” they said in a statement. Bout, known as “The Merchant of Death,” was convicted in 2011 of conspiracy to murder Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and provide material support to a terrorist organization. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Griner, 32, has been imprisoned in Russia since February for the possession and smuggling of less than a gram of cannabis oil found in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. In July Griner pled guilty to possession of the cannabis oil. She was sentenced the following month to nine years in prison.
Tensions have been high between the U.S. and Russia since Griner’s arrest and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just weeks after. In May the U.S. State Department classified Griner as “wrongfully detained” and has made her release a priority.
“This is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time,” Biden said. “We never stopped pushing for her release.”
Biden was hopeful U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan would also be a part of the prisoner exchange. He has been held in Russia since 2018 on spying and espionage charges, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan has denied all charges.
U.S. government officials said it was clear Russia was not willing to include Whelan with any deal involving Griner and Bout.
“This was the only deal we could make right now,” they said. “It was a choice to get Brittney or nothing.”
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