Brittney Griner

Player released in exchange for imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Brittney Griner's release from a Russian jail was welcomed by her fellow athletes on Thursday morning.

In the one-for-one swap, the US had reportedly been negotiating with Moscow for weeks to send arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for the 32-year-old American ...

Brittney Griner has left her Russian prison and is heading for the United States after a prisoner swap was finally negotiated, president Joe Biden has ...

Russia has freed basketball star Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap, with the US releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, US officials say.

The US and Russia swap jailed basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.

This is a significant moment for President Joe Biden, who's been under public pressure to bring Brittney Griner home, and for Griner's wife Cherelle, ...

The USA star is one of the world's best players. Her talent led her to Russia, where she found herself in a diplomatic incident.

Roosevelt Room 8:38 A.M. ESTTHE PRESIDENT: Well, good morning, folks. And it is a good morning. Moments ago, standing together with her.

The basketball player, who was sentenced to years in a Russian penal colony on drug charges before a US-Russia prisoner swap freed her, answered questions ...

The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad.

Deal led to exchange of notorious arms trafficker for US basketball star while not including former marine.

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In the one-for-one swap, the US had reportedly been negotiating with Moscow for weeks to send arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for the 32-year-old American ...

[US](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/us) officials said Ms Griner was freed in exchange for the US releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout following months of talks between Washington and Moscow over the basketball star’s fate. [appearing to mock the WNBA star](https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/1600955442393669633), asking her, “Will you come back here? [said in a video message](https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1600950964248145920). WBNA star Brittney Griner has been released by Russia in a prisoner swap nearly nine months after her arrest on drug charges at a Moscow airport. Unbelievable perseverance that you’ve shown just to make it through your time in Russia. The swap, captured by Russian state TV, shows the former prisoners cross paths on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi. While Griner’s fans and loved ones are celebrating, there are some people who are upset by the developments, and they all just so happen to ideologically oppose [Joe Biden](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/joe-biden). He would have been let out for the asking”. US officials said Ms Griner was freed in exchange for the US releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout following months of talks between Washington and Moscow over the basketball star’s fate. Mr Whelan, 52, was detained in Russia in 2018 and was convicted on espionage charges in 2020. “We never stopped pushing for her release. Conservatives used his continued incarceration to fuel their criticisms of the Biden administration.

US President Joe Biden confirmed Brittney Griner was on a plane heading back to America having been released by a Russian prison in a prisoner swap for arms ...

And she's just been great to be around." "Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot. "It's been hard," Staley said. citizen Brittney Griner, who were serving their sentences in correctional institutions of the United States of America and the Russian Federation, respectively, was successfully completed at Abu Dhabi Airport," Russia's foreign ministry said. Engelbert said she'd give Griner and her family some space and time before any discussion about her return to the league. She's relieved to finally be heading home."

The US basketball star Brittney Griner was released from Russian jail on December 8 in a prisoner swap for notorious arms dealer Victor Bout, known ...

Bout was detained in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 in a US sting operation where he thought he was meeting with Colombian guerrillas and arrested under a warrant issued by a local court at the behest of the US. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the same day that Russia will continue its work to release all Russians who were jailed by the US. He had been one of the world's most notorious arms dealers, selling arms to Afghanistan, Asia and Latin America. “Viktor Bout's Afghanistan dealings were always controversial,” Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies at Oxford University, said in a tweet. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on February 17 after spending a few months playing professional basketball in the Russian regions. Bout was born in Tajik capital of Dushanbe in Soviet times. "The choice before us was one or none," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News. [Bout arrived in Moscow to a media circus](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jfGECP3gMCs-5bbi-8liBxVZZ9ZANdZT/view?usp=share_link) where he was met by his mother and wife. She was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in a penal colony. "The swap of Viktor Bout for US basketball player Brittney Griner can truly be described as a New Year gift. The elaborate swap involved two private planes bringing the pair to Abu Dhabi airport from Moscow and Washington, and then flying them home. The two prisoners were exchanged in Abu Dhabi airport before flying home and both received full pardons.

The US basketball star Brittney Griner was released from Russian jail on December 8 in a prisoner swap for notorious arms dealer Victor Bout, known ...

Bout was detained in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 in a US sting operation where he thought he was meeting with Colombian guerrillas and arrested under a warrant issued by a local court at the behest of the US. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the same day that Russia will continue its work to release all Russians who were jailed by the US. He had been one of the world's most notorious arms dealers, selling arms to Afghanistan, Asia and Latin America. “Viktor Bout's Afghanistan dealings were always controversial,” Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies at Oxford University, said in a tweet. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on February 17 after spending a few months playing professional basketball in the Russian regions. Bout was born in Tajik capital of Dushanbe in Soviet times. "The choice before us was one or none," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News. [Bout arrived in Moscow to a media circus](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jfGECP3gMCs-5bbi-8liBxVZZ9ZANdZT/view?usp=share_link) where he was met by his mother and wife. She was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in a penal colony. "The swap of Viktor Bout for US basketball player Brittney Griner can truly be described as a New Year gift. The elaborate swap involved two private planes bringing the pair to Abu Dhabi airport from Moscow and Washington, and then flying them home. The two prisoners were exchanged in Abu Dhabi airport before flying home and both received full pardons.

The basketball star returns home 10 months after she left the US to play the game in Russia.

Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

In releasing Bout, the US freed a former Soviet army lieutenant colonel whom the Justice Department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers. Before her conviction, the US state department declared her to be wrongfully detained, a charge that Russia has sharply rejected. Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Baylor University All-American and Phoenix Mercury pro basketball star.

Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison on Thursday after US officials negotiated a swap, and Micah Parsons questioned why they'd left other ...