American basketball star Britney Griner has been freed from her 10-month confinement in Russia and is headed back home, officials shared on Thursday. But how did her release happen?
How it happened
Starting at the beginning, Griner was detained in a Russian airport on Feb. 17, 2022, while attempting to leave the country due to the growing threat of an invasion of Ukraine.
While going through security, cannabis oil was discovered inside her luggage, leading to Russian authorities detaining her.
A month later, the invasion of Ukraine had begun, and while the rest of the world openly condemned the nation for its actions, the detainment of Griner was pushed to at least the middle of May. Once May approached, U.S. officials said they would be more aggressive in demanding her and fellow American and former marine Paul Whelan’s release.
On July 4, after being detained for five months, Griner wrote a handwritten letter to President Joe Biden, asking for his help. Two days later, Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, was told by the Biden administration they were “working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world,” according to a White House statement at the time.
While Griner was finally set to appear in court in Russia in July, reports surfaced that Biden’s administration was prepared to offer Russian convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, for both the WNBA star and Whelan in a prisoner exchange. However, talks stalled.
On Aug. 4, Griner was sentenced to 9 years in prison, in what U.S. officials called a sham trial, for her possession of the substance. Despite her immeadiate appeal of the sentencing, the Russian court upheld the decision.
Reports of the offer circled for months, and in October, top aides to Russian Vladimir Putin said that negotiating for Griner was not a “priority.” The aide, Yury Ushakov, then took shots at Biden for his public demands that Griner and other wrongfully detained Americans be released.
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"In this tense situation, I think that he is thinking first and foremost about the upcoming midterm elections, so he keeps emphasizing the need to bring back home the basketball player who was detained for drug smuggling. However, it's not the main issue that we are concerned about," Ushakov said in an interview with Rossiya-1.
In November, the sentiment that Russia was not willing to discuss a prison exchange continued, as the U.S. State Department said the country was not seriously engaged.
However, talks reignited in recent days, and Biden gave the final approval for the prisoner swap, resulting in a one-for-one release of Griner, which also sees Bout headed back to Russia.
Biden shared the news on Thursday morning in a tweet that showed him hugging Cherrelle Griner, saying that the American was on a plane headed home after 294 days of being detained in Russia.
Biden was reportedly briefed on the exchange, which he accepted Thursday morning after being “personally involved and in constant touch” with what was going on talking with Griner on the phone from the Oval Office.
The sports world reacts
Since the announcement that Griner’s detainment had come to an end and that she would return to the U.S., the basketball and sports world has shared their praise on social media.
Mike Fratello, who had coached games in Russia while in the NBA, and prior to the current conflict, shared with 92.3 The Fan that there isn’t anything more important in the world of sports right now than Griner’s release.
“The fact that finally, after all this time, she has been freed to come home is the top story of the day without question,” Fratello said.
Fratello shared that while he was in Russia coaching for a series of NBA global games, there was always a fear that something could happen if the wrong thing was said.
“We had meetings with the players, obviously, and everyone involved to make us aware of the fact that we had to assume that everywhere we went, there was a microphone, or there was somebody listening,” Fratello said, adding that he had no doubt they “were being monitored.”
It’s not uncommon for female basketball stars to spend their WNBA offseasons competing in Russia, often for more money than they can make in the U.S. Griner was doing just that before the U.S. advised Americans in the country to return home.
After almost 300 days, Griner will once again be on U.S. soil.
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Whelan is still in Russia
The prisoner exchange agreed upon on Thursday does not include Whelan or any other American detained in Russia. The Biden administration said the one-for-one prisoner trade was “the only deal we could make right now.”
“It was a choice to get Brittney or nothing,” a U.S. official told CNN, noting that the Biden administration had repeatedly made offers for Whelan’s release.
“It’s a great day for the families of the wrongfully detained and we feel wonderful for them,” David Whelan, Paul’s brother, told CNN. “But we do worry about what’s in Paul’s future. I think it’s become clear that the U.S. doesn’t have any concessions that the Russian government wants for Paul. So I’m not really sure what the future holds.”
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