WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian detention in a prisoner swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Griner is now in the custody of American officials, a US official told CNN.
President Joe Biden is expected to speak at 8:30 a.m. ET, the White House said, though it did not immediately specify the topic.
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The swap did not include another American that the State Department has declared wrongfully detained, Paul Whelan.
Both the Griner and Whelan families have been informed of Griner’s release, the source familiar with the matter said.
Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” is a former Soviet military officer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States on charges of conspiring to k!ll Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and provide material support to a terrorist organization.
Moscow had slammed his sentencing in 2012 as “baseless and biased” and Bout has maintained he is innocent.
