On Thursday morning, President Joe Biden confirmed the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russia. Griner was exchanged for international arms dealer Viktor Bout in a swap that took place in the United Arab Emirates and is on the way back to the U.S. The deal did not include Paul Whelan, a 52-year-old former Marine who was arrested in Russia in 2018 on accusations of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The U.S. had reportedly discussed bringing home both Griner and Whelan in exchange for Bout, a deal that Biden says Russia was unwilling to make. After Griner’s release, Whelan’s family released a statement, both praising the move to bring Griner home and stating that Whelan’s continued imprisonment is “a catastrophe for Paul.”
“I am so glad that Brittney Griner is on her way home,” David Whelan, Paul’s twin brother, said in a statement Thursday via ABC’s Jay O’Brien. “As the family member of a Russian hostage, I can literally only imagine the joy she will have, being reunited with her loved ones, and in time for the holidays. There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be free and for them to go home. The Biden Administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.”
