- Olympic champion serving nine-year sentence on drug charge
- Biden administration says it wants to bring player home
The difficulties involved in freeing Brittney Griner from her imprisonment in Russia were brought into stark relief this weekend when a senior aide to Vladimir Putin said the issue is not a priority for the Russian president.
In August, the basketball star was given a nine-year prison sentence for bringing a small amount of cannabis oil into Russia. The 31-year-old said she uses the drug to treat pain and has lodged an appeal against her sentence.