Brittney Griner: From basketball stardom to Russian prison

NEW YORK: Basketball star Brittney Griner recounted her experience in a Russian prison after being detained in February 2022 by Russian authorities on Wednesday.

In an interview with Robin Roberts on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Brittney Griner shared her experience in a Russian prison for ten months with the wider United States (US) public.

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Griner is a decorated basketball star, having won an Olympic gold medal two times. She is also a nine-ime Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star.

The US citizen was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki, Russia after authorities found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Possession of cannabis in any form is an offense punishable by law in the Eurasian country.

Brittney Griner plead guilty in a Russian court on July 2022 and was sentenced to nine years in a Russia prison. She was subsequently transferred to a penal colony in Mordovia.

Griner described her experience while imprisoned. She claims she experienced “deplorable conditions”, including sleeping on a blood-stained mattress with thin sheets and with limited access to basic necessities like toilet paper. She talked about freezing temperatures with not much respite from the cold.

The basketball player described the penal colony as a “labour camp” akin to North Korea where prisoners were required to work in harsh conditions. She was assigned the task of cutting fabric for military uniforms.

She summed up her and fellow inmates struggle for survival. “You’ve gotta do what you gotta do to survive.”

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The US government reached out to the Russian government shortly after her sentence. The North American country stated that she was “wrongfully detained”. Griner would be released on December 8 in 2022 in a prisoner swap involving convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner talked about the relieve her freedom brought. She said during her sentence in the Russian prison, she felt “less than human”. She stated she also dealt with extreme guilt about disappointing others, including family.

Griner stated she felt immense regret over the “absent-minded” mistake that landed her in a prison halfway across the world. She likened her error to misplacing a phone.

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Since her release, the basketball star and former Russian inmate has become a vocal advocate for people in similar situation as hers. She fiercely supported and called for the release of fellow-US citizen Paul Whelan who is accused of spying by the Russian government.

She also returned to basketball in no time, playing for her previous team Pheonix Mercury entire season in 2024.