Brittney Griner

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

This morning, I joined President Biden, Vice President Harris, National Security Advisor Sullivan, and Cherelle Griner in the Oval Office, as Cherelle spoke ...

WASHINGTON: United States basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, ...

American basketball star Brittney Griner is “relieved” to have been released from prison in Russia, US president Joe Biden said on Thursday.

See the moment Brittney Griner was swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The two prisoners were exchanged on a UAE airport tarmac, ending Griner's ...

"I had to give the sentence I gave." She was charged with the large-scale transportation of drugs and moved to a Russian jail shortly after, before sitting for a trial in Russia. He was subsequently convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison, with the possibility of serving time at a labor camp. He offered to sell weapons to the rebels, even with the understanding that the materials could have been used to kill Americans. For most of Griner's detainment, the US attempted to negotiate a two-for-one swap involving the release of both the basketball star and fellow wrongfully detained American Paul Whelan. Scheindlin — a then-federal judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York who ruled on the case — thought her mandatory minimum 25-year sentence "was too high in the first place." Instead, Bout was caught in a Drug Enforcement Agency sting operation. But even so, the Hon. Griner then walks off with the American man who had been escorting Bout. She is on her way home," at 8:14 a.m. She is on a plane. In the clip, the trio, plus Griner, approaches Bout along with another suited man.

WASHINGTON: A former United States (US) Marine, Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia on charges of espionage expressed disappointment Thursday that more h...

But Whelan was not part of the deal that happened Thursday. We will never give up. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up.

“The Philadelphia House Delegation is proud to join in welcoming Brittney Griner home from nine months of illegal and unjust detention in Russia.

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner flying to Abu Dhabi to be exchanged for Russia's Viktor Bout. (AP pic).

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US basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said on ...

"BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home." For almost two decades, Bout became the world’s most notorious arms dealer, selling weaponry to rogue states, rebel groups and murderous warlords in Africa, Asia and South America. "The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. She was sentenced on Aug 4 to nine years in a penal colony on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, along with Griner's wife, Cherelle. Griner, 32, a star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on Feb 17.

The Texas basketball star was first detained in February and was recently moved to a Russian penal colony.

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

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Brittney Griner is expected to land at a San Antonio military hospital to undergo evaluation upon her release from a Russian penal colony, after a prisoner ...

Ms. Griner has been at the center of a fraught geopolitical showdown between Washington and Moscow. The Biden administration traded her for Viktor Bout, ...

Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, said in a statement that the release of Ms. Griner was ready to return to the United States, the president signed a conditional grant of clemency to Mr. Instead, she was led into the Oval Office where she joined a call to her wife with Mr. That presented the administration with a brutal choice: agree to the deal for Ms. Bout, who was captured in Bangkok in 2008, extradited to the United States in 2010 and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison. diplomats to include him as part of the deal with the Russians for the exchange with Mr. Bout on a plane headed to the U.A.E. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.” But he added that “it’s clear the U.S. The Biden administration’s efforts to negotiate a prisoner swap stalled for months as she was sent to a penal colony outside Moscow. The release of Ms. President Biden announced her release in a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, with Cherelle Griner, Ms. The Biden administration traded her for Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”

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.

Griner was jailed for carrying cannabis oil at a Moscow airport in February, and was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Thursday. The pair were ...

In the video, apparently provided by Russian security services, Bout was warmly greeted by two Russian officials as Griner, who is 6ft 9in (206cm), looks on. Pictures showed him hugging his mother and wife at the airport tarmac. During her trial in Russia, she said the cannabis oil found in her bag had been an "honest mistake". She is one of the best-known sportswomen in America. Footage on Russian state media showed them crossing on the tarmac with their respective teams. He has been held in an American prison for 12 years.

Her plane landed in San Antonio, Texas. Griner was freed from Russia in exchange for notorious international arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Biden acknowledged the difficulty of the months following Griner's arrest and detention in February, which he called "hell," but said she was in "good spirits" and "relieved" to be heading home. He served as the inspiration for Nicholas Cage's character in the movie "Lord of War." Senior administration officials told reporters in a call Thursday morning that Griner was moved a to Moscow "couple days ago" from the penal colony where she was imprisoned, before being taken to the UAE for the prisoner swap. The retired Marine said the Russians considered him a spy, meaning they place him on "a level higher than what they did with Trevor [Reed] and Brittney" in talks with the U.S. is committed to securing Whelan's release and said the administration made "every possible offer available" to no avail. government said it was making the request to have Bout, who was being held in a federal prison in Illinois, released "based on significant foreign policy interests of the United States." The secretary revealed in July that the U.S. He dismissed the "show trial in Russia" that landed her in prison and said "she didn't ask for special treatment." "In Bout's case, he has not had access to his former networks for over a decade, and the supply/demand for arms has changed drastically. He gave the interview to Maria Butina, a lawmaker in Russia's lower house of parliament who served 15 months in a U.S. To secure Griner's release, the president ordered that Bout be freed and returned to Russia. Biden said he was "glad to be able to say Brittney is in good spirits."

American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly ...

In a Thursday press conference, Biden said he spoke by phone to Griner and that she was safe and relieved but deserved privacy and rest. The Biden Administration negotiated her release in exchange for officials said she would receive specialized medical services and counseling.

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.

American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly ...

The Olympic gold medallist was convicted of drug smuggling and freed in a prisoner swap for a Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 ― US basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout and was ...

It’s probably wrong to draw any hypothetical conclusions that this may be a step towards overcoming the crisis in bilateral relations,” he said. He also said he had not encountered much anti-Russian sentiment during his imprisonment in the United States. “So happy to have Brittney back on US soil.

HOUSTON — Brianna Turner was sleeping Thursday morning when her mother burst into her room to say that Brittney Griner, her teammate on the Phoenix Mercury, ...

Ms. “I immediately just thanked God, because you never know the time or the hour,” Ms. Venzant the senior point guard, Ms. Turner, Ms. Jackson Lee said that while Ms. “In the beginning, I felt denial, and then I was confused, and then I was like, ‘How is this possible?’” Ms. Since the time Ms. The Mercury had tried to keep her plight in the public eye during her imprisonment as a way of reminding the Biden administration how many people wanted her home, Mr. Supporters of Ms. Vince Kozar, the president of the Mercury, had also been exchanging letters with Ms. “The uncertainty was a burden to carry.” “I was debating if I was still dreaming or not,” recalled Ms.

The release of WNBA star Brittney Griner after 10 months of Russian detention is cause for justifiable celebration. It has spared Griner from the ...

The prisoner swap deal was reached after months of negotiations between Washington and Moscow.

He was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the US two years later. Griner said she made an “honest mistake” and had not meant to break the law. Griner is also a two-time Olympic gold medallist.

The release of WNBA star Brittney Griner after 10 months of Russian detention is cause for justifiable celebration. It has spared Griner from the ...

U.S. officials say Moscow had been pushing for the release of a Russian assassin being held in Germany before finally agreeing to release Ms. Griner for ...

Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday, stepping off a plane in Texas after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following ...

A closer look at how Brittney Griner returned home, and whether Iran's 'morality police' is actually disbanding?: 5 Things podcast.

Brittney Griner, the American basketball star detained by Russian authorities in February, has safely returned to the United States after being released ...

“The players have incredible agency with how they choose to make their livings and where they choose to play,” he said on CNN. Griner’s Russian lawyer said she had cut her hair while in a penal colony to make life easier during the Russian winter. “My goal is for no players to have to go overseas,” he said. The Biden administration has ideas about “new forms of offers” to try with the Russians to secure Whelan’s release, a senior administration official told CNN on Thursday. Next, in a different, bright room, Griner wears a dark headscarf while sitting across from a woman and writing with a pen on paper, the RIA News Telegram reel shows. The bed is covered by white sheets, one with a deep blue stripe, and is among five beds seen in the room with pink walls and sheer white curtains along four windows. In another clip, Griner wears a short haircut – without her now-famous dreadlocks – while pushing along a food line a tray bearing two dishes, apparently from among dozens of small plates and bowls seen on open serving shelves. Whelan’s family was happy Griner was headed home but “devastated” he was left behind, they said Thursday. Whelan’s release could not be secured in the latest prisoner swap, while Reed [returned to the US](https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/politics/trevor-reed-russia/index.html) in April after a nearly three-year ordeal. A US, Irish, British and Canadian citizen, Whelan was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. Biden gave final approval for the prisoner swap freeing Griner over the past week, an official familiar with the matter said. The Biden administration will continue negotiating with Russia to secure Whelan’s release, it said Friday.

SAN ANTONIO: Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday, nearly 10 months after the basketball star's detention in Russia made her the most ...

When Griner was imprisoned in Russia, letters were her main form of communication with home. Our columnist offers one last letter to mark her return to the ...

Now, more and more people have heard about how you were part of a wave of W.N.B.A. Now your name and your story have a resonance few in the sports world can top. Who can better speak to our American shortcomings than someone scorned by many at home but also saved and spared by the intense efforts of the U.S. Then again, maybe you don’t do any of this. “Brittney’s situation is a sign of progress, a sign that our nation has moved tremendously.” That’s how Victoria Kirby York, the National Black Justice Coalition public policy director, put it when she and I chatted Thursday. Roughly a decade ago, you became one of the first Black and openly lesbian headliners in women’s basketball. (It’s a huge deal for me, too, since I have a nonbinary family member and my Black father and white mother married in 1954, when such unions were finally becoming legal in a smattering of states.) During this ordeal, we all saw the anguish and tears of your wife, Cherelle Griner. In your trademark soft-spoken manner, you pushed for racial and social change in America. national team you helped lead to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics? I want to focus on another part of the conversation. What you endured over the last 10 months is nearly unfathomable.