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Brittney Griner And Viktor Bout Prisoner Swap Caught On Video
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner was released from Russian prison after the United States and Russia came to a one-on-one prisoner swap deal early Thursday morning.
Griner, who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released in exchange for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is known as the “Merchant of Death.”
The prisoner exchange occurred earlier this morning at Abu Dhabi Airport and was caught on video.
Brittney Griner Comes Face-to-Face With The “Merchant of Death”
The prisoner exchange with the WNBA star and the “Merchant of Death” was “completed successfully at Abu Dhabi Airport” on Thursday, state media said earlier today. According to CBS, the one-for-one exchange agreement, which has been in negotiation with Moscow for the last few weeks, was given final approval by President Biden within just the last week.
Footage of the Griner and Bout exchange was caught on camera by Russian state media outlet TASS and was released and reshared by TMZ on Thursday afternoon.
Within the video, we can see the WNBA player approaching the international arms dealer with full security on both sides. Griner was wearing a red jacket and long pants, however, her iconic dreads are missing as they must have been cut off in the weeks leading up to the swap considering she still had the dreads at a court hearing in late October.
The men in the video all came in close contact with one another as they shook hands, however, it is unclear if Griner and Bout also shook hands as the video cuts out as the two-time Olympic gold medalist approached the arms dealer.
Brittney Griner served 294 days in the Russian prison after cannabis-derived oil cartridges were found in her luggage.
In 2008, Bout was caught in a U.S. sting and was arrested at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. He has spent the last 12 years in an American jail for “conspiring to support terrorists and kill Americans,” per BBC.
President Biden Assures Brittney Griner Is “Safe”
President Biden Tweeted early Thursday morning, stating he spoke to the WNBA player and she is “safe” and “on her way home.”
“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner,” the President Tweeted. “She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.”
Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.
She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022
He later spoke out about the one-on-one prisoner swap at the White House around 8:45 AM ET, saying “Brittney is relieved to finally be heading home.”
“She wrote to me back in July,” Biden said of the two-time Olympic gold medalist. “She didn’t ask for special treatment, she requested the simple quote ‘Please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees. Please do everything you can to bring us home’.”
He went on to discuss the one-on-one prisoner swap deal, stating, “After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held in intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along.”
“This is a day we worked toward for a long time. We never stopped pushing for her release. It took painstaking and intense negotiations,” he continued.
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