Brittney Griner heads home after release from Russia
Russian state media released footage of the exchange, where Griner could be seen minus her distinctive dreadlocks, while Bout looked relaxed.
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American basketball star Brittney Griner packed her bags and was headed back to the United States on Thursday after being released from a Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer, also known as the "Merchant of Death." The exchange was made at an airport in Abu Dhabi.
While Griner was arrested in Russia in February on drug charges, 55-year-old Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison.
Russian state media released footage of the exchange, where Griner could be seen minus her distinctive dreadlocks, while Bout looked relaxed. The two crossed paths on the airport tarmac and headed towards the planes that would take them home.
President Joe Biden announced Griner's release early Thursday at the White House. "She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home," he said.
The president said he had spoken to her and she was in "good spirits" after suffering "needless trauma."
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested at a Moscow airport nine months ago. That is the time when tensions over Ukraine were also soaring. She was accused of possession of vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil and was later sentenced in August to nine years in prison.
Bout was detained in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in jail. He was accused of arming rebels in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts.
He landed in Russia Thursday, state television said. "Don't worry, everything is OK, I love you very much," he told his mother Raisa.
Meanwhile, another American held in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former US Marine detained since 2018 and accused of spying, was not part of Thursday's exchange. He told CNN that he was "greatly disappointed."
"I don't understand why I'm still sitting here," Whelan told the US television network in a phone call.
Biden pledged that he will get Whelan free as well.
"Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case different than Brittney's," he said.
As for Griner's release, Biden said "this is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time. It took painstaking and intense negotiations."
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