Share and Follow
When Brittney Griner was exchanged for arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022, she anticipated coming back to the US alongside Paul Whelan, an American marine who was also a captive in Russia, as revealed by ABC’s Robin Roberts on Tuesday.
During a preview of the upcoming GMA interview, Roberts mentioned that the WNBA athlete will talk about the swap that led to her release after being detained in Russia for 10 months due to a drug-related arrest in Moscow in February 2022.
‘She boarded the plane believing that Paul Whelan would be with her,’ Roberts shared with her co-hosts as they discussed Griner’s initiative, which is designed to assist other Americans held in foreign prisons. The initiative is named ‘Bringing Our Families Home’ and is dedicated to aiding the release of other detainees.
The interview will air on May 1 as Griner prepares for her second WNBA season since her release. The 6-foot-9, 33-year-old center returned to the league last year to earn her ninth All-Star nod for the Phoenix Mercury. She and her partner Cherelle recently revealed that they are now expecting a baby 16 months after she was exchanged for Bout in a 1-for-1 deal at an airport in Abu Dhabi.
Griner had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison after being caught with a cannabis oil cartridge while returning to Russia to resume playing for her European team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. And as she revealed to Roberts, Griner’s first thought upon being arrested amid the growing Ukrainian-Russian conflict was: ‘My life is over right here.’
Brittney Griner is seen crying during an emotional interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts
The 6-foot-9 Griner is seen with her legs outstretched in front of ABC’s Robin Roberts
Whelan, a former Marine accused of espionage, listens to the verdict in a courtroom in 2020
‘I was just so scared,’ she told Roberts. ‘There was so much I didn’t know.’
Griner was ultimately sent to the town of Yavas in Mordovia – a region known for its prison camps.
Hers, it turns out, was ‘one of the worst,’ according to Roberts.
Griner described seeing a ‘huge knife’ on a table at the prison camp and thinking: ‘I was just like, no, this is going to be a ride. Do what you got to do to survive.’
The conditions, she said, were ‘less than human.’
Menstrual stains on mattresses as well as the absence of any soap or toilet paper were just some of the indignities she faced.
That all came to an end in December of 2022, when she was freed in a 1-for-1 swap that has since been criticized for its failure to return Whelan, a US Marine imprisoned on espionage charges in 2018.
Griner and Bout crossed paths on a tarmac in the United Arab Emirates to complete the trade. Bout, referred to by some as the ‘Merchant of Death,’ was arrested on terrorism charges in 2008 and later convicted in the US.
Bout, referred to by some as the ‘Merchant of Death,’ was arrested for terrorism in 2008
Brittney Griner is seen crossing the tarmac in Abu Dhabi after being traded for Viktor Bout
The deal drew criticism from Republicans, who were upset that the White House failed to get Whelan as well. In response to attacks from the right, White House officials acknowledged prisoner swaps are costly, adding that they felt compelled to bring Griner home while they had the chance.
With her new book, Griner is hoping to help bring awareness to other Americans detained overseas, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in in 2023 for alleged espionage, as well as Whelan.
Whelan’s brother said in 2022 that he fears his brother will never be returned, although he stressed that he supported the Biden Administration’s deal to bring home Griner.
‘I think we all realize that the math is not going to work out for Paul to come home anytime soon, unless the U.S. government is able to find concessions,’ David Whelan said. ‘And so I think we aren’t really sure what the way forward is.’
