The return of Brittney Griner to the United States in a dramatic prisoner swap with Russia marked the culmination of a 10-month ordeal that captivated world attention...
FILE - Brittney Griner runs up court during the women's basketball gold medal game against Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Aug. 8, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. The return of Brittney Griner to the United States in a dramatic prisoner swap with Russia marked the culmination of a 10-month ordeal that captivated world attention, a saga that landed at the intersection of sports, politics, race and gender identity and wartime diplomacy.
“I think her celebrity and the coinciding with the time of the invasion of Ukraine, those two points together is what made her case national news, international news, but also I think it made it made it feel much more fraught than a lot of the earlier cases of Americans being detained in Russia,” Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a Russian historian and doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, said in an interview days before Griner was freed.
, giving the U.S. government's top hostage negotiator the authority to try to secure her release outside the legal system., admitting that she had the canisters in her luggage but that she packed them inadvertently in her haste to make her flight and had no criminal intent. From there, attention turned to the possibility of a prisoner swap, especially after Secretary of State Antony Blinken's announcement of a “substantial proposal.
She was greeted last week by the special president envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, who traveled to bring her back to the U.S. Her first stop was a military base in Texas. Carstens said in an interview with CNN that he offered Griner some space to decompress on the plane but that she said: “I have been in prison for 10 months now, listening to Russian. I want to talk,"
Griner said in a statement on Friday that she plans to play basketball this season for the Phoenix Mercury.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Did a 'Bunker Boys' Vietnam Vet Group Write a Letter to Brittney Griner?In the past, Griner has requested that the national anthem not be played at WNBA games.
Read more »
Brittney Griner Wouldn't Be Home If Not For Black WomenBlack women created real change in what felt like a hopeless situation — and we should all be taking notes.
Read more »
Viktor Bout offered Brittney Griner well wishes at prisoner exchangeNow freed Brittney Griner has been beset with well wishes since her release from a Russian prison, even by the notorious convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. — via TheGrowthOp
Read more »
Brittney Griner Breaks Silence On Return From Russia, Vows To Play In WNBA AgainBrittney Griner said Friday she's super grateful to be back in the United States -- while vowing to play in the WNBA again.
Read more »
Brittney Griner breaks silence after being released from prison in RussiaBrittney Griner has posted on Instagram for the first time since her release from detainment in Russia. The WNBA star, who returned to the U.S. last week after a prisoner swap with Russia, was detained in the country for 10 months.
Read more »
Brittney Griner released from medical center at Texas military base - CNNBrittney Griner left the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on Friday, eight days after the U.S. basketball star arrived at the facility following her release from a Russian penal colony as part of a prisoner swap, CNN reported.
Read more »