Brittney Griner detained in Russia

President Biden announced the exchange in a statement this morning at the White House, alongside Griner’s wife, Cherelle: “She’s safe.”

In a statement made to the press, the detained WNBA star’s lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said that Griner “is doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment.”

“They saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances,” a State Department spokesperson said on Twitter.

The sentence “is excessive and contradicts … the existing court practices,” Griner’s legal team alleged in Tuesday’s statement.

“Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home,” Griner said in a statement released through her lawyers on Tuesday.

Griner’s release is “not the main issue that we are concerned about,” an aide to Vladimir Putin said on state-run television Sunday night.

Griner, herself, had the last word, closing out her defense with an apology to her wife, her family, and her teammates in both the WNBA and Russian Premier League, for which she plays in the WNBA off-season.

Reuters reports that Russia’s announcement, which came Thursday, followed comments made by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who had said Wednesday Washington had made a “serious offer” to swap Griner and fellow American Paul Whelan. 

“My rights were never read to me. No one explained any of it to me,” Griner said in her testimony.

Prosecutors revealed their case against Griner, alleging that she had brought two canisters of cannabis oil with her to Russia, and which were allegedly discovered in her luggage by customs officials at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside of Moscow. However, U.S. officials believe the charges are politically motivated.

Griner, an Olympic gold medalist and star forward for the Phoenix Mercury, was detained after authorities at a Moscow airport allegedly found cannabis oil in her luggage. However, in May, the U.S. government reclassified Griner as being “unlawfully detained,” signaling that it believes the drug charges are irrelevant to her detainment.

Griner had been detained in February at a Moscow airport on drug charges after customs officials alleged they found cannabis oil in a vape pen she had in her possession. In May, the U.S. government reclassified Griner as being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a sign that it believes the charges against Griner are irrelevant to her detainment. 

State Department officials said Tuesday that the agency “has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner.”