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Brittney Griner released from Russian custody after high-profile prisoner swap
The WNBA star was freed Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death." Griner's release marks one of the most high-profile prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War.
Griner had been charged with drug crimes in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Paul Whelan, a former Marine who has been detained in Russia for four years, was not part of the swap and remains imprisoned.
The U.S. government set up an elaborate operation in 2008 to capture and prosecute Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” because he was said to be one of the world’s largest illicit arms dealers.
The family of Paul Whelan, a businessman and former Marine imprisoned in Russia on suspicion of spying, said they were told by the Biden administration in advance that he would not be part of the prisoner swap.
The exchange of WNBA star Brittney Griner and arms dealer Viktor Bout was a rare moment of successful diplomacy between Moscow and Washington as relations between the two countries deteriorate over the war in Ukraine.
Brittney Griner likely entered a system of isolation, grueling labor and psychological torment when she was transferred to a penal colony, the successor to the infamous Russian gulag, former prisoners and advocates said prior to her release in a prisoner swap Thursday.
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