Basketball star Brittney Griner is “safe” and headed home to the United States after being freed from a Russian prison in a swap for the notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout, the two countries announced on Thursday.
President Joe Biden delivered an early-morning address to the nation to announce the breakthrough, and said he had spoken to Griner just “moments ago.”
“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” Biden said, adding that she should be back in the United States within 24 hours.
The Olympic legend, who was being held in a remote penal colony, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February and handed nine years in prison in August for possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil.