Russia frees US basketball star Brittney Griner in prisoner swap for 'Merchant of Death' arms dealer

8 December 2022, 13:49 | Updated: 8 December 2022, 13:54

Russia has freed basketball star Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap, with the US releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, US officials have confirmed.

The swap was approved by President Joe Biden in recent days, US news outlets have said.

Mr Biden confirmed her release in a tweet, writing: "Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home."

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possessing cannabis oil and last month sent to a penal colony.

President Biden signed an order for the release of arms dealer Viktor Bout, commuting his 25-year jail term.

Bout has been dubbed the ‘merchant of death’ and made his name running guns after the fall of the Soviet Union.

He was jailed after being arrested at a hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok following an elaborate US sting in 2008.

He spent 12 years in a US jail for conspiring to support terrorists and kill Americans.

Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose months-long imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.

Mr Biden was under mounting pressure to get Griner home after she was transferred to a prison camp.

Mr Biden spoke with Griner on the phone on Thursday while her wife, Cherelle, was in the Oval Office.

In an address from the White House, he said the "past few months have been hell for Brittney" but she is in good spirits.

Russian and US officials had conveyed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of strained negotiations, with Mr Biden saying in November he was hopeful Russia would engage in a deal.

A top Russian official said last week a deal was possible before the end of the year.

Even so, the fact the deal was a one-for-one swap is a surprise given US officials for months expressed their determination to bring home both Griner and Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges his family and the US government have said are baseless.

In releasing Bout, the US freed a former Soviet army lieutenant colonel once described by the Justice Department as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers.

Bout, whose exploits inspired a Hollywood movie, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons US officials said were to be used against Americans.

The Biden administration was ultimately willing to exchange Bout if it meant Griner's freedom. She is one of the greatest players in WNBA history.

Griner's arrest in February made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad.

Her status as an openly gay black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, infused racial, gender and social dynamics into her legal saga.

The exchange was carried out despite deteriorating relations between the US and Russia.

In an extraordinary move during otherwise secret negotiations, Mr Blinken revealed publicly in July the US had made a "substantial proposal" to Russia for Griner and Mr Whelan. Though he did not specify the terms, people familiar with it said the US had offered Bout.

Such a public overture drew a chiding rebuke from the Russians, who said they preferred to resolve such cases in private, and carried the risk of weakening the US government's negotiating hand. But the announcement was also meant to communicate to the public that Mr Biden was doing what he could and to ensure pressure on the Russians.