Brittney Griner Released in Prisoner Exchange With Russia; Former Marine Still Held
Left, Brittney Griner smiles before Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs semifinals on September 30, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Ethan Miller via Getty Images. Paul Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018, stands inside a defendants' cage as he waits to hear his verdict on June 15, 2020, in Moscow. Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev via Getty Images. Composite by Coffee or Die Magazine.
Left, Brittney Griner smiles before Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs semifinals on September 30, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Ethan Miller via Getty Images. Paul Whelan, a Marine Corps veteran accused of espionage and arrested in Russia in December 2018, stands inside a defendants' cage as he waits to hear his verdict on June 15, 2020, in Moscow. Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev via Getty Images. Composite by Coffee or Die Magazine.
Paul Whelan, a 52-year-old Marine Corps veteran, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on espionage charges that both he and the US government maintain are false. Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev via AFP/Getty Images.
Griner was arrested on drug smuggling charges in February when Russian officials accused her of carrying less than a gram of cannabis oil in vape cartridges.
Her arrest came a week before Russia invaded Ukraine, just as diplomatic tensions between the US and Russian governments were rising over Russia’s military intentions.
US officials have consistently called her arrest and subsequent imprisonment a political act.
Considered by many to be the greatest female basketball player of all time, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA and NCAA champion, and seven-time WNBA All-Star. She is the only player in NCAA history, male or female, to amass at least 2,000 points and 500 blocked shots, and she was the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft. Wikimedia Commons photo by Lorie Shaull.
President Joe Biden confirmed the release early Thursday.
"She's safe, she's on a plane, she's on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances," Biden said.
Griner was traveling to Russia during the WNBA offseason to play with UMMC Ekaterinburg, a team in the Russia Premier League, when she was arrested.
US officials have maintained that Griner was particularly vulnerable to abuse or poor treatment in the Russian judicial system because she is a well-known American, Black, and widely known to be married to a woman.
Alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout arrives at a criminal court Oct. 5, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo by Nicolas Asfouri via AFP/Getty Images.
Whelan’s status remains unclear. Unlike Griner, the former Marine was convicted of espionage in Russia, though he and US officials maintain those charges are bogus.
Speaking to CNN in an exclusive interview from prison, Whelan said he was disappointed not to be released with Griner.
“I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four year anniversary of my arrest is coming up,” Whelan told CNN. Russian authorities, he said, have “put me at a level higher than what they did with Trevor (Reed) and Brittney.”
Trevor Reed is another former US Marine who was held in Russia until he was released in April.
Whelan’s brother David released a statement expressing happiness for Griner but deep disappointment in his brother’s continued captivity.
"Paul is still a hostage," the statement said. "I am so glad that Brittney Griner is on her way home. As the family member of a Russian hostage, I can literally only imagine the joy she will have, being reunited with her loved ones, and in time for the holidays. There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be freed and for them to go home.”
He also thanked Biden officials for informing the Whelan family about Griner’s release before it became public — a change, he said, from when Reed was released, blindsiding Whelan’s family.
Britney Griner's wife, Charlotte, and President Joe Biden speak with Griner after she was released from a Russian prison on Dec. 9, 2022. Photo released by the White House.
The Russian foreign ministry said the US had swapped Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer, for Griner. The two were exchanged in Abu Dhabi, a Russian news agency said.
Bout was arrested in 2008 in Thailand by US officials for offering to sell arms to Colombian rebels. He was convicted in 2012 in the US and sentenced to 25 years in US prison.
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Matt White is a former senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism.
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