Russia releases WNBA star Brittney Griner in prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout, confirms US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with U.S. releasing torious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, American officials said. swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden, but carried a heavy price — and left behind an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.

deal, second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured release of most prominent American detained abro. Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose monthslong imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to population of wrongful detainees.

Biden's authorization to release a Russian felon once nicknamed “ Merchant of Death" underscored escalating pressure that his ministration faced to get Griner home, particularly after recent resolution of her criminal case and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony.

swap was confirmed by U.S. officials with direct kwledge of negotiations who were t authorized to publicly discuss deal before a White House anuncement and spoke on condition of anymity.

Russian and U.S. officials h conveyed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of strained negotiations, with Biden saying in vember that he was hopeful that Russia would eng in a deal w that midterm elections were completed. A top Russian official said last week that a deal was possible before year's end.

Even so, fact that deal was a one-for-one swap was a surprise given that U.S. officials h for months expressed ir ir determination to bring home both Griner and Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espion charges that his family and U.S. government has said are baseless.

In releasing Bout, U.S. freed a a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel whom Justice Department once described as one of 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 that U.S officials said were to be used against Americans.

Biden ministration was ultimately willing to exchange Bout if it meant Griner's freedom. detention of one of greatest players in WNBA history contributed to a swirl of unprecedented public attention for an individual detainee case — t to mention intense pressure on White House.

Griner’s arrest in February me her most high-profile American jailed abro . Her status as an openly gay Black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to LBGTQ community, infused racial, and social dynamics into her legal saga and me each development a matter of international importance.

Her case t only brought unprecedented publicity to dozens of Americans wrongfully detained by foreign governments, but it also emerged as a major inflection point in U.S.-Russia diplomacy at a time of deteriorating relations prompted by Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

exchange was carried out despite deteriorating relations between powers. But imprisonment of Americans produced a rare diplomatic opening, yielding highest-level kwn contact between Washington and Moscow — a phone call between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — in more than five months.

In an extraordinary move during orwise secret negotiations, Blinken revealed publicly in July that U.S. h me a “substantial proposal” to Russia for Griner and Whelan. Though he did t specify terms, people familiar with it said U.S. h offered Bout.

Such a public overture drew a chiding rebuke from Russians, who said y preferred to resolve such cases in private, and carried risk of weakening U.S. government's negotiating hand for this and future deals by making ministration appear too desperate. But anuncement was also meant to communicate to public that Biden was doing what he could and to ensure pressure on Russians.

Besides efforts of U.S. officials, release also followed months of backchannel negotiations involving Bill Richardson, former U.S. ambassor to United Nations and a frequent emissary in host talks, and his top deputy Mickey Bergman. men h me multiple trips abro in last year to discuss swap scenarios with Russian contacts.

Griner was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport in February when customs officials said y found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her lugg. She pleed guilty in July , though still faced trial because mitting guilt in Russia's judicial system does t automatically end a case.

She ackwledged in court that she possessed canisters, but said she h criminal intent and said ir presence in her lugg was due to hasty packing.

Before being sentenced on Aug. 4 and receiving a punishment her lawyers said was out of line for offense, an emotional Griner apologized "for my mistake that I me and embarrassment that I brought on m.” She ded: “I hope in your ruling it does t end my life.”

Her supporters h largely stayed quiet for weeks after her arrest, but that approach changed in May once State Department designated her as unlawfully detained . A separate tre, Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko , a Russian pilot convicted in U.S. in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, spurred hope that ditional such exchanges could be in works.

Whelan has been held in Russia since December 2018. U.S. government also classified him as wrongfully detained. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.

Whelan was t included in Reed prisoner swap, escalating pressure on Biden ministration to ensure that any deal that brought home Griner also included him.