Brittney Griner is 'heading home'

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian penal colony after a prisoner exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout, President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday.

Hi, it's Julius with an update on Ukraine.

Senior administration officials said Griner had been released from the penal colony within the last 48 hours and taken to Moscow before flying to the United Arab Emirates and is currently on her way back to the U.S.

Biden said the exchange had been in the works for the past two weeks, and that he had given the final go-ahead. 

"We never forgot about Brittney," Biden said. "I'm glad to be able to say Brittney is in good spirits. She's relieved to finally be heading home, and the fact remains that she's lost months of her life, experienced a needless trauma. She deserves space, privacy and time with her loved ones to recover and heal from her time being wrongfully detained.

"She wrote to me back in July. She didn't ask for special treatment, even though we'd been working on her release from day one. She requested, a simple quote, 'Please don't forget about me and the other American detainees,'" Biden added.

The president said the United States is still working on bringing home Paul Whelan, who has been jailed in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges.

"While we celebrate Brittney’s homecoming, we remain committed to seeing Paul Whelan released,'' Vice President Kamala Harris said on social media. "We will not relent in our efforts until Paul is home with family. We will not stop working to bring home every U.S. citizen wrongfully detained.''

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