WATCH: Brittney Griner’s prisoner-exchange video with Viktor Bout LEAKED
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Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout's swap
The infamous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout and the American basketball player Brittney Griner were exchanged at a U.A.E. airport in the footage that was released on the Russian state media after the two nations reached an agreement to send both of them back to their respective countries. After a month of severe treatment in a penal colony, the dramatic Griner-Bout prisoner swap was finished on Thursday morning.
Following the discovery of medicinal cannabis in Brittney Griner’s baggage at a Moscow airport in February, she has spent the last ten months in incarceration. Brittney admitted the possession charge in July and said to the judge she had no desire to break the law. She was handed a 9-year prison term, and efforts to have her released were complicated by the severe deterioration in ties between Washington and Moscow that followed Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February.
After the United States and Russia agreed to a prisoner swap, Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout crossed into each other on the runway of an airport in the United Arab Emirates. The encounter was caught on camera and on Thursday afternoon, the TASS, a state-run Russian media company, released the video.
Three males are seen coming alongside Griner in the footage, who is wearing a red shirt and with short hair. The group approaches Bout along with another man in a suit in the video along with Griner. Bout is then given a handshake and a hug by one of the men with Griner. After that, Griner leaves with the American who was escorting Bout.
Brittney Griner and her WNBA career
Brittney, a 2012 alumnus of Baylor University where she won the Player of the Year Award and a national collegiate title, entered the WNBA after being chosen by the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the 2013 WNBA Draft. The 31-year-old was acknowledged as one of the top 25 players in WNBA league history in 2021. She is regarded as one of the league’s best defenders of all time.
With the US women’s national basketball team, she started her professional career in 2013, and since then, she has won a WNBA title, two Olympic gold medals, and two Olympic gold medals. She rose to fame for being the first gay athlete to secure a million-dollar deal with Nike.
What’s next for Brittney Griner amid her return to the US?
After a prisoner exchange, the Phoenix Mercury center was freed from a Russian jail colony and is now in American custody. If Griner chose to rejoin the Mercury and the WNBA, she would be personally accountable for that choice. Griner received a lot of encouragement from other WNBA players as well as people all throughout the league and we might see the giant next season.
Nobody wants to pressure Griner into making a decision about continuing to play, and they’ll give her some time to get used to it.
In Texas, Griner will meet up with her spouse Cherelle and her parents. Griner can obtain further mental health resources from the league and will undergo physical and mental evaluations and rehabilitation through a reintegration system.
Also Read: “Terrible place for a Russian,” Being Gay, Brittney Griner’s time in prison could be ‘worse’
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Irvin Philip
(701 Articles Published)