WASHINGTON — Brittney Griner, the American basketball star imprisoned in Russia, was released Thursday after nearly 10 months of captivity in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” President Joe Biden announced.
WASHINGTON — Brittney Griner, the American basketball star imprisoned in Russia, was released Thursday after nearly 10 months of captivity in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” President Joe Biden announced.
WASHINGTON — Brittney Griner, the American basketball star imprisoned in Russia, was released Thursday after nearly 10 months of captivity in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” President Joe Biden announced.
In a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, with Cherelle Griner, Griner’s wife, by his side, Biden confirmed the release and said that Griner would be back in the United States within 24 hours.
“I spoke with Brittney Griner,” Biden said. “She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held in intolerable circumstances.”
He added: “Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones — and she should have been there all along.”
Cherelle Griner described her wife’s imprisonment as “the darkest moments” in her life. She thanked Biden and administration officials for working tirelessly to secure Griner’s release.
“Today, I’m just standing here, overwhelmed with emotions,” she said.
Paul Whelan, another American held prisoner, was not released Thursday despite months of efforts by U.S. diplomats to include him as part of the deal with the Russians for the exchange with Bout.
