- Brittney Griner has returned to Texas, where she was born and raised.
- She was imprisoned in February for possessing cannabis oil at a Moscow airport.
- The swap was announced by US President Joe Biden on Thursday.
Brittney Griner has returned to Texas, where she was born and raised, ten months after departing for Russia to play basketball.
Griner, who was imprisoned in February for possessing cannabis oil at a Moscow airport, was on Thursday swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
She was transported by air to San Antonio, where she will get medical attention.
The White House’s John Kirby told on Friday morning that Griner is in “good spirits” and “good health”.
“Brittney has had to endure an unimaginable situation and we’re thrilled that she is on her way home to her family and friends,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement about her return.
Just a few days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Griner was taken into custody in February.
She is one of the most well-known athletes in the country. The two-time Olympic champion played centre for Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA during the US basketball season.
She travelled to Moscow in order to play in Russia during the US off-season. She claimed that the cannabis oil discovered in her purse had been a “honest mistake” during her trial in Russia.
Being aware that Moscow has long demanded the release of Bout, a convicted arms dealer known as the Merchant of Death, the Biden administration proposed a prisoner exchange in July. He has spent the last 12 years imprisoned in the United States.
They may be seen traversing the tarmac with their respective teams in footage on Russian official TV. The 6′ 9″ (206 cm) Griner can be seen seeing Bout being received by two Russian officials in the video, which appears to have been given by Russian security services. Before showing the two parties parting ways, a portion of the swap was taken out.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the Moscow foreign ministry said in a statement.
I made it. That’s the main thing,” he told reporters at the airport.
“In the middle of the night they simply woke me up and said ‘Get your things together,'” he added.
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