US basketball star Griner back home after Russia prisoner swap

American basketball star Brittney Griner arrived in the United States after being released from a Russian prison in exchange for an arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death."

Griner, 32, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug charges, was seen by a reporter walking across a runway after her plane landed in San Antonio, Texas.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told NBC that Griner "was in very, very good spirits when she got off the plane and appeared to be obviously in good health."

Griner was exchanged in Abu Dhabi for Viktor Bout, a 55-year-old Russian national who was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and LGBTQ trailblazer, was arrested at a Moscow airport against a backdrop of soaring tensions over Ukraine.

She was accused of possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil and sentenced in August to nine years in prison.

Bout, who was accused of arming rebels in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was detained in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years behind bars.

He landed in Russia, state television said. "Don't worry, everything is OK, I love you very much," he told his mother Raisa.

While Griner's family and friends celebrated her release, another American held in Russia, former US Marine Paul Whelan, detained since 2018 and accused of spying, was not part of the exchange.