Brittney Griner is home.
The WNBA superstar landed in San Antonio, Texas, Friday morning after being released from Russian custody a day earlier. Per standard procedure for freed U.S. prisoners, Griner’s first stop is expected to be a medical facility for evaluation.
Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, tweeted, “So happy to have Brittney back on U.S. soil. Welcome home BG!”
Griner, 32, was exchanged for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a caught-on-camera swap at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi early Thursday.
She was greeted by her family after nearly 10 months behind bars in Russia. It was a slightly warmer reception than the formalities exchanged on the Abu Dhabi runway. Texas is Griner’s home state; she was born in Houston and went to Baylor University in Waco.
However, she was flown to San Antonio because it’s the home of her first stop, Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. The same medical facility hosted ex-Marine Trevor Reed when he was released from Russian custody in April.
“We can confirm that Brittney is in good health and that she is being offered a wide range of support options following her time wrongfully detained,” a senior White House official said.
Griner was arrested Feb. 17 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying cannabis oil in her luggage. Marijuana is not legal in Russia in any form. In July, she pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
In May, the U.S. State Department formally declared Griner had been “wrongfully detained” and began negotiating her release. In July, weeks after her guilty plea, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said his department had offered to exchange Bout for Griner and another American imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whelan.
Russia evidently rejected that two-for-one offer, and officials said Thursday that the Russians insisted on a one-for-one Bout-for-Griner swap.
Video released by Russian state media showed Griner and Bout crossing paths during the exchange, though the footage left it unclear whether they interacted.
“This is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time,” President Biden said from the White House. “It took painstaking and intense negotiations, and I want to thank all the hardworking public servants across my administration who worked tirelessly to secure her release.”
