Brittney Griner returned to the U.S. early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly 10 months in detention in Russia.
Griner was seen getting off a plane that landed Friday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Griner, who was reunited with her wife, Cherelle. U.S. officials who met her upon arrival said she was in very good spirits and appeared to be in good health, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who noted that Griner would be offered specialized medical services and counseling.
Griner had been detained in Russia for nearly 10 months. She was exchanged for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout on Thursday.
The exchange, made at a time of heightened tensions over the invasion of Ukraine, achieved a top goal for Biden but carried a heavy price and left behind Paul Whelan, an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.
In an address from the White House on Thursday, Biden said that these “past few months have been hell for Brittney” but that she was in good spirits.
“This is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time,” Biden said. “We never stopped pushing for her release. It took painstaking and intense negotiations, and I want to thank all the hardworking…
