WNBA star Brittney Griner can now breathe more easy after Russia agreed to a prisoner swap deal with the United States. The basketball star got released from the penal colony she would have spent nine years in, and notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was released from an American prison.
Despite their best efforts, the Biden administration was unable to secure the release of another American citizen, Paul Whelan, who has been in a Russian jail for almost four years.
Even amid the tensions between the US and Russia over the war in Ukraine, Biden managed to secure the release of arguably the most prominent American citizen detained in Russia, which was among President Biden’s top priorities.
Although Griner is now home, US officials and the public agree that the prisoner swap carried a heavy price.
During a press conference on Thursday morning announcing the news, President Biden said that Griner was safe and on a plane. He excitedly shared with the country news of her release, saying that after months of being in intolerable circumstances after being unjustly detained, Griner would soon be in the company of her loved ones.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle, accompanied President Biden as he made the announcement, and she was also present as the President made a phone call to Griner from the Oval Office. The US Vice President Kamala Harris and the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken were also present during the phone call.
According to sources, Biden approved the prisoner swap last Thursday.
Biden’s approval to exchange Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer also known as “Merchant of Death,” for the WNBA star can be attributed to the sense of urgency his administration felt as more and more people pressed the government to secure Griner’s release.
The urgency heightened after a Russian judge found Griner guilty of drug charges, sentenced her to nine years, and her transfer to a penal colony. Russian penal colonies have a terrible reputation for inhumane conditions.
Griner, who was traveling to Russia to play basketball, was detained at an airport after customs agents found vape canisters full of cannabis oil in her luggage. Her arrest made headlines in the US, and her status as a black woman who is also openly gay jailed in a country known for mistreating the LGBTQ community stirred up discussions about gender, race, and racial dynamics in the country.
Russian news agencies carried a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry announcing the swap. They said the exchange happened in Abu Dhabi and Bout was on his way to Russia. They show Griner being greeted at the airport by two US officials and Bout by two Russians. Later, TV stations showed Bout walking off an airplane in Moscow into the arms of his wife and mother.
The one-for-one prisoner swap was a surprise because the Biden administration had for months expressed their determination to bring both Griner and Whelan home. Whelan is a former security executive from Michigan who was jailed in 2018 on charges of espionage that he has vehemently denied and that his family and the US government say are false.
President Biden said his administration had not forgotten about Whelan and would continue negotiating to secure his release.
Griner’s release marks the second prisoner swap with Russia this year. The government traded a Russian smuggler for a former US marine in April.
