\n<\/p>\n
WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian prison colony in a prisoner exchange, President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s safe, she\u2019s on a plane, she\u2019s on her way home,\u201d Biden said from the White House, where he was accompanied by Griner\u2019s wife, Cherelle, and administration officials.<\/p>\n
Going in the other direction is arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed the \u201cMerchant of Death.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bout is a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel who, according to U.S. officials, was trying to sell weapons to be used against Americans. Bout was serving a 25-year sentence at a federal prison in Marion, Illinois, and was set to be released in August 2029, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.<\/p>\n
Griner was detained Feb. 17 at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki while returning to Russia to play basketball during the WNBA\u2019s off-season, just a week before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.<\/p>\n
The Olympic gold medalist was arrested on drug charges after Russian officials alleged Griner had several THC vape cartridges in her possession.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Griner faced a 10-year maximum prison sentence and was detained indefinitely leading up to her trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Biden said the \u201cpast few months have been hell for Brittney\u201d but that she is in good spirits, after speaking on the phone with her from the White House.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Biden insisted he never forgot Griner. Despite Derek Maltz, who oversaw the Drug Enforcement Administration\u2019s investigation of Viktor Bout, being reportedly unhappy about the exchange, the Biden administration said it was the only path to setting Griner free.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough multiple, multiple engagements, the Russians made clear that the only route to securing Britney\u2019s return was a release of a Russian national, Viktor Bout,\u201d said a Biden administration official. \u201cIn the last 48 hours, as this had all come together, Brittney was moved from the penal colony where she was being held to Moscow, and this morning, she was brought to the United Arab Emirates, where she was met by U.S. officials.\u201d<\/p>\n
On ESPN\u2019s \u201cFirst Take\u201d Thursday morning, South Carolina women\u2019s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who has talked daily on her social media accounts about Griner\u2019s situation, said the news of Griner\u2019s release moved her to tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried,\u201d Staley said, \u201cand I\u2019m a girl from Philly, we don\u2019t cry very easily. But I cried, because this is the moment we\u2019ve all been praying for. I know her heart is for the voiceless, I think her voice will be as strong as strong can be \u2026 when she speaks out, when she advocates for those who have been in the position she\u2019s been in, that we continue to wrap our arms around her, to make sure she has the strength to continue to endure the fight that\u2019s ahead of her \u2014 because there\u2019s a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018, is still in Russian custody.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whelan was arrested on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have said are baseless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWe will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul\u2019s release.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n