The long-awaited release of basketball star Brittney Griner from detention in Russia has finally occurred. On Thursday, the US government freed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a one-to-one person trade for Griner.
After nine-months detainment and having already been sent to a Russian penal colony, the 32-year-old Olympic sportswoman was flown to an airport in Abu Dhabi where Russian state media released footage of the moment Griner and Bout, widely known as “The Merchant of Death”, crossed on the tarmac.
US President Joe Biden said Griner was safe and on a plane home from the United Arab Emirates, while Russian media reports Bout has made it back to Russia.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle, joined Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office on Thursday to speak with Griner over the phone.
Addressing the media about Griner’s Russian detainment, Cherelle said: “Over the last nine months you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life.”
“So today I’m standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion I have is just sincere gratitude.”
Cherelle added that herself and Griner will “remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul”, referring to Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges.
For months, US Officials had said they were determined to bring home both Griner and Whelan in a swap with Bout– the Russian arms dealer who was halfway through a 25-year prison sentence, accused of selling high-powered weapons to groups ranging from Al Qaeda, to the Taliban and militants in Rwanda.
But in the last few weeks, it seems Russia would only release Griner as US Officials say they had to make “the very painful decision” to leave Whelan in Russia for now.
On Thursday, Biden said: “Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up.”
“It was bringing Brittney Griner home right now or bringing no American home to us right now,” Biden said.
Paul Whelan’s brother, David, told media that the Biden administration had “made the right decision” and that their family had been told “in advance that Paul would be left behind.”
“I am so glad that Brittney Griner is on her way home,” said David. “As the family member of a Russian hostage, I can literally only imagine the joy she will have, being reunited with her loved ones, and in time for the holidays. There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be freed and to go home.”
Back in February, Griner had been found guilty on drug possession and smuggling charges in a Russian court and sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.
Initially the two time Olympic gold medallist had arrived in Russia with vape cartridges filled with “hashish oil”, a substance legal in large parts of the US but illegal in Russia.
Arrested just before Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Griner was embroiled in heightened political tensions.
Now, many are sharing their relieved sentiments of Griner’s release and celebrating her safe return to her family in the US.