On December 8, 2022, Russia and the United States conducted a controversial 1-for-1 prisoner exchange, trading Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. G
Viktor Bout in the custody of DEA agents on November 16, 2010, after being extradited to the United States
Brittney Griner in 2015.
Fans at the 2022 NWSL Championship were invited to write letters to Griner.
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was later released in a different exchange
Paul Whelan
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Paul Nicholas Whelan is a Canadian-born United States Marine veteran who was arrested in Russia on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence. He
Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange
…place at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, following months of negotiations. The possible release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges in 2018, was also part of negotiations. Russia refused to release Whelan along with Griner as part of the…
Whelan in 2024
The first photo of Americans Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Paul Whelan on August 1, 2024.