Brittney Griner is FREE!
The WNBA star has been released from Russia detention after a successful prisoner swap exchanging the former champ for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to multiple reports.
BREAKING: Brittney Griner has been freed in a prisoner-swap and is now in U.S. custody. pic.twitter.com/zZlIxNYAEo
— WSLAM (@wslam) December 8, 2022
Griner is now in U.S. custody and will undergo a medical evaluation in the United Arab Emirates. President Joe Biden is expected to hold a press conference at 8:30 in the morning with Griner’s wife, Cherelle, beside him, per the White House.
“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” Biden said at the White House Thursday morning, per CNN. “After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under untolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.”
Cherelle followed up President Biden’s statement and said that her “family is whole” after BG’s release came.
“Today I’m just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion that I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration,” she said, per ABC.
“It’s a happy day for me and my family,” she said.
Fromer marine and fellow American Paul Whelan was not included in the prisoner swap. He’s been in Russian custody for alleged espionage. The president said that the exclusion of Whelen in the deal “was not a choice of which American to bring home,” and was critical of Russia for “treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s.”
U.S. officials went on to say that Griner’s release was “the only deal we could make” and that once it became clear Russia wouldn’t swap for Whelan, the U.S. accepted it, and it became ” a choice to get Brittney or nothing,” according to the official.
Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022
She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT
Griner’s release comes a few months after she was convicted of drug possession and smuggling in August. The controversial ordeal began in February after Russian authorities discovered and arrested her for possessing a vape cartridge containing hashish oil, a.k.a marijuana. After her conviction was upheld, Griner spent time in a harsh Russian penal colony.
