- Basketball star released from Russian jail after prisoner swap
- Griner had been detained in Russia after drug conviction
Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian jail was welcomed by her fellow athletes on Thursday morning.
The basketball star’s release was agreed after a prisoner swap involving Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who had been detained in America for 12 years. Griner was serving a nine-year sentence for bringing a small amount of cannabis oil into Russia. She says the cannabis was for personal use.