Plane believed to be carrying Brittney Griner lands in U.S.
The Hindu
A plane believed to be carrying her touched down at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
A plane believed to be carrying Brittney Griner landed in the United States early on December 9, 2022, nearly 10 months after the basketball star was detained in Russia and became the most high-profile American jailed abroad.
Mr. Griner was exchanged for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.
A plane believed to be carrying her touched down at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
The deal achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden — but failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.
Biden's authorisation to release Bout, the Russian felon once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” underscored the heightened urgency that his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case on drug charges and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony.
Griner, who also played pro basketball in Russia, was arrested at an airport there after Russian authorities said she was carrying vape canisters with cannabis oil. Before her conviction, the US State Department declared Griner 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.