The release of Brittney Griner from a Russian jail in a high-profile prisoner swap on Thursday has been met with praise and criticism by the Americans. Brittney Griner was released in exchange for Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout.
Brittney Griner, 32, is one of the best-known sportswomen in America.
During the US basketball season the double Olympic champion is a star centre for Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA.
According to reports, her only reason for flying to Moscow was to play in Russia during the off-season in the US.
She told her Russian trial that the cannabis oil found in her bag had been an “honest mistake”.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken singled out the efforts of presidential envoy Roger Carstens, who accompanied Griner on the plane from the UAE.
Leading figures in US basketball welcomed her release, among them was two-times WNBA champion Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm who tweeted: “BG is FREE!!! 294 days and she is coming home!!! 😭🤍🙏🏻❤️”
Breanna’s tweet wasn’t welcomed by some Americans who felt swapping the basketball player for an arms dealer is “embarrassing”.
A tweep, @GriffinHanswalk said: “We traded a WNBA player for one of the most dangerous men in the world. And we left a marine. Wow.. embarrassing”
Another tweep, @Theffchild who disagrees with @GriffinHanswalk said: “It’s not like Putin let us choose. Our marine wasn’t on the table. Why do people keep bringing it up like it was an option?
“Such a bad faith argument”
@iamMitchScott also reacted: “You’re ok with freeing alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the “Merchant of Death”? Any and all lives lost due to his being free are now on the head of Brittney Griner and @POTUS. This is a sad day for America.”
Former White House national security advisor, John Bolton, however, condemned the deal as not a swap but a surrender by the Biden administration.
“Terrorists and rogue states all around the world will take note of this and it endangers other Americans in the future,” he said.
The deal was also criticized by Robert Zachariasiewicz, a former agent with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, who helped lead the team that arrested Viktor Bout.
“Today’s actions just placed a target on the back of every United States citizen travelling throughout the world and they just became a commodity,” he told the BBC’s World Tonight.
“I think we just sent the message that it’s really good business to illegally detain and if not kidnap American citizens, and it’s really great to have one in your back pocket if you need them for a trade at some point.”
Vladimir Osechkin – a former Russian MP who leads a parliamentary investigation into Bout, and who is now a dissident in France – told the BBC’s Outside Source programme he believes Vladimir Putin wanted Bout back because of what he knows.
“Putin and the Generals were worried that Victor Bout might start providing detailed and consistent evidence of what he knew about Russian intelligence helping terrorist organisations and organising sabotage abroad,” he said.
“It was a matter of honour for them to take their agent back.”
Blinken defends prisoner swap, says Biden made “hard call”
In an interview with “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan, his first since the prisoner swap, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the decision to make the exchange, saying it was “totally unacceptable that Brittney Griner was behind bars.” He also responded to criticism that Bout was too valuable an asset to surrender for Griner’s release.
“In the case of Viktor Bout, these are hard decisions. And ultimately those of us working for the president make recommendations, give advice. He’s the one who has to make the hard calls. And he made a hard call,” Blinken said.
“Viktor Bout’s been off the playing field since 2008, which is a very good thing, and he served about half of his sentence. At some point, in the years to come, he was going to get out. And I’m glad at least that we were able to get Brittney Griner home.”
The secretary revealed in July that the U.S. had put forward a “substantial proposal” to Russia aimed at securing both Griner and Whelan’s release. He said Thursday talks eventually reached the point where “it was clear that there was an opportunity to bring Brittney back.”
“The choice wasn’t between getting one American or the other back. The choice before us was one or none. And the president decided that it was important to at least bring Brittney home now, and work on getting Paul back, too,” Blinken said, echoing other U.S. officials.
Blinken said that the deal to secure Griner’s freedom had no bearing on talks with Russia on other issues and included no other provisions.
“What we’ve demonstrated all along is that despite the challenges, to say the least, in the larger relationship, despite the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, we are able to work on specific issues, distinct issues that we have, to see if we can make progress. And all along we’ve been working to get back Americans who have been unjustly detained,” he said.
“This was about getting Brittney home. This was about getting unjustly detained Americans back to their families. That was the focus. It’s nothing more. It’s also nothing less.”
Russian state media outlets released footage that shows Griner leaving what appears to be the penal colony where she was being held, boarding a jet in Moscow and walking across the tarmac to freedom in Abu Dhabi.
The footage shows Griner signing paperwork at the remote facility in Mordovia, where she was transferred in November. She is shown getting into a van, carrying two duffel bags.
Griner is then seen boarding a jet with her bags. After flashing a shot of Griner’s passport, the clip cuts to Griner seated in the plane, wearing a red coat and gray skull cap.
A man off camera with a heavy Russian accent asks, “What’s your mood?”
“Happy,” Griner replied, nervously laughing.
“Are you ready for your flight?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m ready,” she said.
The man switches to speaking Russian, and the cameraman translates for Griner:
“Do you know where you’re headed to?”
“No.”
“You’re flying back home.”
“To the U.S.?”
“To the U.S.”
“OK, OK.”
“Everything will be fine.”
More footage shows the moment Griner and Bout were exchanged on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi.
Griner is seen wearing the same red coat, walking alongside three officials. Bout, carrying an envelope, approaches with one man, and hugs one of the Russian officials escorting Griner.
Griner, who stands at 6 foot 8 inches, leaves with the man who escorted Bout as the two groups separate.
The footage was shot from inside the plane that Bout boarded.
Subsequent footage shows doctors examining Bout, taking his temperature and blood pressure.