Brittney Griner Released by Russia in Prisoner Swap

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary Antony Blinken, and Cherelle Griner speak on the phone with WNBA star Brittney Griner after the administration negotiated her release from a Russian prison, Thursday, December 8, 2022, in the Oval Office (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz).

In February, Griner was arrested in Russia for possessing and smuggling drugs for criminal purposes and sentenced to 9 years in a Russian prison which her lawyers claimed was extravagant.

Article by Georgia Simon, Associate White House Reporter

WASHINGTON - Brittney Griner, a WNBA all-star, two-time Olympic gold medalist and current Phoenix Mercury player, who some know as “BG,” was released from Russia after being arrested for less than a gram of cannabis oil found inside vape cartridges within her luggage. Griner’s lawyers argued that the cannabis oil was used for medical purposes and that she had no criminal intentions. Her arrest was made just one week before Putin's invasion of Ukraine and now she has come home after a prisoner swap with a Russian arms dealer.

Griner was released via Prisoner Swap which was negotiated around a week ago. In order to get Griner back, they exchanged Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trafficker nicknamed “The Merchant of Death.” Bout was detained for conspiring to murder U.S. citizens as well as selling weapons to terrorists in Columbia. He was set to serve a 25-year sentence in an Illinois federal prison, before returning home after only completing 11 years.

Before being released, Griner was moved to a penal colony that was 200 miles east of Moscow. The Washington Post explained that while there, “inmates are required to perform labor during their sentence.” The conditions have been known to be much harsher than her previous accommodation at a pre-trial detention center.

Back in Sept. President Biden met with Griner’s wife, Cherrelle Griner, at the White House where he restated the priority of getting Griner home. Today, Cherelle was in the Oval Office with President Biden when the swap was made and they were able to speak on the phone. Griner will now be flown to San Antonio where she will seek medical care. Cherelle will meet her there and they will be reunited for the first time in almost 10 months.

While Democrats praised President Biden’s swap, the GOP thought he made a bad decision by not only freeing an arms dealer but by also not bringing one of the other wrongfully detained Americans in Russia, Paul Whelan. “Biden just gave Putin a huge, huge tool in the tool kit to fund and arm Russia’s war machine,” Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) said about Bout’s return to Russia.

This is now the 2nd official prisoner swap since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which began back in Feb. On April, 27, Trevor Reed was released in a prisoner swap after also being wrongfully detained in Russia. Reed is a former U.S. Marine who was sentenced to nine years for striking a Russian police officer in 2019. In response, the U.S. released Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot sentenced to 20 years for scheming to smuggle cocaine into America.

Many celebrities and athletes used their following to show support and gain recognition for Griner when she was in custody. Meghan Rapinoe, U.S. women's national soccer team player, and Rapinoe’s fiance Sue Bird, former WNBA star and Griner’s Olympic teammate, paid tribute to her whilst Rapinoe was receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, earlier this year.

Rapinoe wore a blazer with Griners initials “BG” embroidered onto the front. While Bird wore a pin on her jacket stating “We are BG.” Following the news, President Biden released a statement saying “She is safe, She is on a plane, she is on her way home.”