Brittney Griner’s harrowing experience in Russia continues to reveal layers of trauma that she endured before finally making it home in late 2022.
On Cam Newton’s podcast, the WNBA star shared new, unsettling details about the final moments leading up to her release as part of the highly publicized prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Her account paints a vivid picture of fear, distrust, and overwhelming relief as she was transported from a Russian penal colony to freedom.
Griner recalled the tense hours before her release when Russian officials transferred her to a secret airport in Moscow.
“They take me to an airplane in Moscow, to an airport I didn’t even know existed. Honestly, I had never even seen that airport. I get on the plane, we take off, and we land in, what was it, Dagestan, I think, just to refuel before heading to Abu Dhabi so I could get switched. I’m in the back with the big guys… big guys, playing no games.”
“They’re trying to offer me food. They’re like, ‘We’ve got steak,’ and I’m like, ‘No. I’m not about to get poisoned before I go home, I don’t trust y’all.'”
“So we land, and I see the other plane on the other side. I know it’s an American plane, I see the American flag on it. And I’m just like, ‘Alright, home is close.'”
“Roger Carson comes over to the plane, sees me, and says, ‘Hey, I’m going to get their guy. They’re going to bring you off, we’ll do the swap, and then we’re heading straight to the plane. We’ll refuel in London, then go to the military base in San Antonio.'”
“I’m like, ‘I don’t care where we go, as long as it’s the U.S. of A.'”
“So we do the swap. We’re walking — and yeah, it’s Victor Bout, the ‘Merchant of Death,’ all that… We shook hands. He wished me luck and said, ‘Glad you’re going home.'”
“I said, ‘Glad you’re going home, too.’ Then I went about my business. And we left.”
“We made one little pit stop to meet some high-ranking people in Abu Dhabi who made this possible. Shook their hands, thanked them.”
“They said if I ever wanted to come back, I could. I’m like, ‘I appreciate you.’ But in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘I don’t plan on leaving the country ever again. I’m good. We’ve got beaches right here in the U.S. of A, I’m good.'”
Griner has since resumed her WNBA career and publicly processed the trauma through interviews, a memoir, and advocacy on behalf of Americans wrongfully detained overseas. She also recalled a harrowing moment before her release, as Griner revealed she had to strip in front of 7 to 8 men.
Yet memories from those last liminal hours, refusing steak from captors she didn’t trust, scanning the runway for an American flag, clasping hands with the “Merchant of Death”, remain searing reminders of how precarious her freedom was, and how quickly the life of a world-class athlete can become entangled in global politics.
Now in her 13th WNBA season with the Atlanta Dream, Griner’s resilience is undeniable. Her story is a sobering reminder of what she endured and how close she came to never making it back home.
