WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap between the U.S. and Moscow

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December 8, 2022

By Andrea Mitchell, Zoë Richards and Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News

Griner was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after Russian authorities said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage.

Joe Biden meets Cherelle Griner about the release of Brittney Griner in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 8, 2022 in Washington. 9ADAM SCHULTZ/ THE WHITE HOUSE VIA GETTY IMAGES)

WASHINGTON — WNBA star Brittney Griner was free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official.

President Joe Biden signed off on the trade, which took place in the United Arab Emirates, even though it meant leaving behind Paul Whelan, a U.S. corporate security executive who remains jailed in Russia.

“She is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home,” Biden said Thursday morning at the White House. “She will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along.”

“I’m proud that today we have made one more family whole,” Biden said, adding that he will continue to work to free Whelan. “We’ll keep negotiating for Paul’s relief. I guarantee it.”

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, was in the Oval Office with Biden, and the two were able to speak with her by phone, a senior administration official said.

Cherelle Griner, speaking after Biden, expressed her “sincere gratitude” to Biden and several other officials whom she mentioned by name for their work.

Find out more in the original article.

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