In a prisoner swap, Russia releases US basketball star Brittney Griner.

On Thursday, Moscow confirmed that it had exchanged US basketball star Brittney Griner, who had been imprisoned in Russia, for notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US.

“The exchange of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for US citizen Brittney Griner… was successfully completed on December 8, 2022, at the Abu Dhabi airport,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Moscow said it had been negotiating Bout’s release with Washington for “a long time,” and that the US had initially “refused dialogue” on including him in any swap.

“However, the Russian Federation has continued to actively work to save our compatriot.” The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland, according to the defense ministry.

(FILES) On March 8, 2008, Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout waits in a detention center of a criminal court in Bangkok. On December 12, 2022, US President Joe Biden stated that US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner is “on her way home” after being released from Russia in a prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The American athlete was detained at a Moscow airport in February 2022 and sentenced to nine years in prison in August for possessing vape cartridges containing a small amount of cannabis oil. (Photo courtesy of Saeed KHAN / AFP)
Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States in 2012 after being accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts.

Griner, 32, was arrested at a Moscow airport shortly before Russia’s February offensive in Ukraine for possessing cannabis-infused vape cartridges.

Her lawyers confirmed the transaction to AFP on Thursday.