The US basketball star has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia
and is on her way back to the United States, president Joe Biden said on
Thursday. The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for
Russian citizen Bout, a former arms dealer. The swap took place at an
airport in Abu Dhabi, Russian news agencies said. Griner, 32, a two-time
Olympic gold medalist, was arrested on 17 February. Talks to secure her
release were complicated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February
and the subsequent souring of ties between Washington and Moscow
