WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison, President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday, December 8th. The U.S. government is reportedly sending convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia. Bout is nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” and was sentenced to 25 years in prison after his conviction of amongst other things, conspiracy to kill Americans.
Biden stated, while standing beside Griner’s wife, Cherelle, Thursday morning, “Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along.” According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the exchange took place at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. Footage of the exchange shows Griner and Bout walk past each other. Griner will then be flown to a military facility in San Antonio for health evaluation.
It was always thought that a prisoner swap would include both Griner and Paul Whelan, who the United States has also classified as “wrongfully detained.” Biden added, “We have not forgotten about Paul Whelan, This was not a choice of which American to bring home. … 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.” Biden also added that Whelan’s family was informed prior to Griner’s release that Whelan would not be exchanged.
Whelan said in a phone interview that, “I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up, I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”
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