Brittney Griner Freed in Prisoner Swap
Historic Exchange Returns American Basketball Star
Months of Negotiations Culminate in Historic Outcome
Brittney Griner, the American basketball star who was imprisoned in Russia for nearly ten months, has been released as part of a prisoner swap with the United States. In exchange for Griner's freedom, the United States agreed to release Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer.
The swap was the culmination of months of tense negotiations between the United States and Russia. Griner, who had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on drug charges, had been detained since February 2022 and became a symbol of the political tensions between the two countries.
The deal was announced by the White House on Thursday, December 8, and hailed as a "breakthrough" in US-Russia relations. Griner was flown back to the United States on a US government plane and is now in good spirits. Bout, meanwhile, was flown back to Russia.
The swap has been widely praised as a diplomatic victory for the United States. However, some critics have raised concerns about whether the release of Bout, who has been accused of involvement in human rights abuses, was worth the price of Griner's freedom.
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