WNBA Brittney Griner No. 42. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Russian media released a video from an airport of a prisoner exchange between WNBA star Brittney Grenier and arms dealer Victor Bout.
Brittney Griner is on her way home after 10 months in Russian custody and now we can witness the moment she officially left Russian custody.
On Thursday, Grenier and Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout were brought to an air base in the United Arab Emirates for the exchange.
A video released by Russian state media showed how it all happened.
Watch Prisoner Exchange Bring Home Brittney Griner
Here’s an additional video of Griner on the plane before the swap.
It’s good to see Griner happy and it’s even better to see her back home on American soil and with her family. It’s been a long way up to this point.
The WNBA star was initially detained in February while returning to Russia to play with her basketball club in the Russian Premier League, as many women’s basketball players do in the WNBA offseason. Customs officials stopped her because of the e-cigarette cartridges in her bag that contained cannabis oil. She faced smuggling charges, went on trial in July and was sentenced to nine years in prison in August.
The US government had been engaged in talks with Russia about a possible prisoner exchange all along. The deal was finally sealed Thursday, benefiting Griner’s WNBA peers as well as athletes and fans from across the country.
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