Brittney Griner, a US basketball player, is released by Russia in a prisoner exchange
Moscow announced on Thursday that it had traded American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been imprisoned in Russia, for renowned arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was presently serving a 25-year sentence in the US.
Russian citizen Viktor Bout was successfully exchanged for American citizen Brittney Griner on December 8, 2022 at the Abu Dhabi airport, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
The US first “refused conversation” on include Bout in any swap, according to Moscow, which claimed that it had been in talks with Washington “for a long time” to obtain Bout’s release.
“However, the Russian Federation kept making efforts to save our colleague. The Russian national has been brought back to his country, according to the defense ministry.
Moscow claimed that it had been in talks with the US to secure Bout’s release “for a very long time” but that at first the US had “refused dialogue” on including him in any exchange.
To save our compatriot, the Russian Federation persisted in making efforts. The citizen of Russia has been delivered back to his country of origin, according to the defense ministry.
