Kufre George
Russia has released US basketball star Brittney Griner in a prisoner exchange
Russia’s foreign ministry said she had been traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian former arms dealer jailed in the United States.
The exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates yesterday
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport with cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia, were found in her luggage.
Her detention came days before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 invasion, as ties between Washington and Moscow came under further strain.
Throughout her time in Russian custody, Griner’s relatives, teammates and supporters called on the US government to put its full weight behind the case to secure her release.
She was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in prison on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs and she had pleaded guilty, but said she had made an honest mistake and had not meant to break the law.
Last month she was taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia to serve her sentence.
In a brief address at the White House yesterday, Biden said the past few months have been hell for Brittney but that she was in good spirits. He praised the basketball star as an incomparable athlete.
