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☆ Brittney Griner tells ABC that she ‘wanted to take my life more than once’ while detained in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Wayne Sterling | George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The US State Department deemed that Griner had been wrongfully detained and she was released in December 2022 in a prisoner swap involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. I felt like leaving here so badly,” Griner said in the ABC interview which aired on Wednesday. I have to endure this.”Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, also said that she was required to write Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter asking for forgiveness. Natalia Kolesnikova/Reuters“They made me write this letter,” said Griner, not specifying who told her to write the letter. The Phoenix Mercury star is entering her 11th WNBA season having returned to the team in May last year.

Persons: CNN — Brittney Griner, ABC’s, Griner, Viktor Bout, “, ” Griner, can’t, ”, Vladimir Putin, Natalia Kolesnikova, Reuters “, Cherelle Organizations: International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders Worldwide, CNN, WNBA, US State Department, Russian, ABC, Reuters, ”, UMMC Ekaterinburg, Phoenix Mercury, Paris Olympics Locations: Russia, Khimki, Moscow, Russian, Paris

☆ Live updates: Three drones downed in Moscow region, mayor says; Russia strikes Ukraine's Danube grain facilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A building of the Moscow International Business Center, Moskva City, damaged after a drone attack on Aug. 23, 2023. Russia's Defense Ministry on Wednesday thwarted an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, downing three drones, the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. No casualties and only minor damage were reported in the sixth consecutive day of similar reported incidents on the capital. "This night, air defense shot down a drone in the Mozhaisk district of the Moscow region. The Defense Ministry said air defense forces had shot down two of the three drones over the wider Moscow region's Mozhaisky and Khimki districts.

Persons: Sergei Sobyanin, Sobyanin, — Karen Gilchrist Organizations: Moscow International Business, Russia's Defense, Defense Ministry, Mozhaisky, Moscow City Locations: Moskva City, Moscow, Mozhaisk, City, Khimki, Ukraine

☆ Russia says drone attack on Moscow thwarted, 3 killed near Ukrainian border
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] A view shows the damaged facade of a high-rise building in the Moscow City following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, August 23, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had thwarted the latest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow but three people were killed in a drone strike near the Ukrainian border. The governor of Belgorod region, which neighbours Ukraine and has come under frequent attack, said the drone hit a sanatorium in a village. The attempted attack in Moscow was not reported to have hurt anyone and only appeared to have caused minor damage. The state TASS news agency reported that glass planes on three floors of the high-rise building had been damaged.

Persons: Stringer, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Moscow City, REUTERS, Rights, Defence Ministry, Moscow, Mozhaisky, TASS, Kremlin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Ukrainian, Russia, Belgorod, Ukraine, Khimki

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

[1/2] U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia July 27, 2022. Griner arrived at the medical center last Friday after U.S. officials secured her freedom from Russia in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner, 32, was arrested on Feb. 17 at an airport outside Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. U.S. officials pressed for the release of both Griner and Whelan, who is being held on what Washington called "sham" espionage charges, a Biden administration official said. "(I) encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home," said Griner.

☆ Fire guts second Moscow region shopping centre in four days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BALASHIKHA, Russia, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A shopping centre in the Moscow region was damaged in a major fire on Monday, emergency services said, the second such blaze in less than a week. Pictures published on Telegram by Russia's emergencies ministry showed that the fire at a construction supplies hypermarket in Balashikha, a satellite town of 500,000 people on the outskirts of the Russian capital, had caused part of the roof to collapse, with smoke billowing into the air. The ministry said the fire had grown to 9,000 sq m (100,000 sq feet) before being brought under control. The Investigative Committee, which is responsible for serious crimes, said it had opened an investigation. On Friday, a fire at a large shopping centre in the Moscow suburb of Khimki killed one person and consumed an area of 7,000 sq m.Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fire rages through shopping mall in Moscow suburbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Fire engulfed one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow early on Friday, emergency services said, leading to the collapse of part of the structure, which complicated firefighters' efforts to douse the flames. The conflagration spread over an area of about 7,000 sq m (75,000 sq ft) in the Mega shopping centre in Khimki near the Russian capital, authorities said. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it was looking into the cause of the fire. The head of the Moscow region's emergency services agency said it appeared the blaze was the result of safety regulations being violated during repair work on the building. Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on June 27, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty ImagesWNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. Maxim Shemetov | ReutersGriner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner, will meet her there, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool//File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, ending what he called months of "hell." The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer. The swap took place at the Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies said. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, along with Griner's wife, Cherelle. For experts on the Russian security services, Moscow's lasting interest in Bout hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties.

☆ Factbox: Brittney Griner, U.S. basketball star caught up in Russia crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, stands inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoDec 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. official said on Thursday that U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who had been jailed in Russia in charges of possessing and smuggling illegal drugs, was now in U.S. custody. Russia said she had been traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States. Brittney Griner, 32, is a double Olympic champion and seven-times All-Star player in the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association (WBNA). Known as "BG" to basketball fans, she has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia during the WNBA winter off-season since 2014.

Griner arrived in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi by private plane from Moscow as Bout was flown in on a private plane from Washington. Bout, nicknamed the "merchant of death," embraced a Russian official who greeted him and smiled broadly as he was led away. A joint UAE-Saudi statement said the UAE president and Saudi crown prince led mediation efforts that secured Griner's release. Griner was exchanged for Bout, a onetime Russian weapons dealer who had been convicted in the United States and imprisoned for 10 years. During the prisoner swap, Griner was met on the tarmac in UAE by chief U.S. hostage negotiator Roger Carstens.

☆ U.S. and Russia continue discussing release of Griner and Whelan - RIA quotes U.S. diplomat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Russia, U.S. have ways to manage nuclear risks -RIA cites U.S. diplomat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Russia and the United States have ways to manage nuclear risks at the level of intelligence agencies, charge d'affaires of the U.S. embassy in Moscow Elizabeth Rood told Russia's state news agency, adding that for now there are no meetings scheduled. Earlier this month, CIA director William Burns met Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russian foreign intelligence, and warned him about the consequences of any Russian use of nuclear weapons, the White House said. Russia has said the issues discussed were "sensitive" and declined to comment on them. read more"The United States has channels for managing risk with the Russian Federation, particularly nuclear risks and that was the purpose of CIA director Burns' meeting with his Russian counterpart," Rood said in a video on RIA's Telegram channel. read moreReporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Brittney Griner taken to penal colony in Russia's Mordovia region - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Filipp Lebedev | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoNov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia, a source familiar with the case told Reuters on Thursday. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony on drugs charges following her arrest at a Moscow airport in February with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She was moved from a detention centre near Moscow on Nov. 4 to be taken to an undisclosed prison location. Russian authorities have given no information on her whereabouts for nearly two weeks, but the source said she had been taken to Female Penal Colony IK-2 in Yavas, about 500 km (300 miles) southeast of Moscow. Inmates of Russian penal colonies are required to work long hours for meagre pay on tedious manual tasks such as sewing.

That the WNBA star, who lost her appeal Tuesday, is a gay Black woman could add unknown variables to a penal system that is known to be remote and harrowing. “Conditions in prisons and detention centers varied but were often harsh and life threatening,” a 2021 State Department report on Russian human rights abuses said. “Russian prisons are grim, even relative to prisons in other countries. Prisoners were used for farming, mining or logging in sparsely populated areas of the country or worked in sweatshop conditions. It can often take weeks for prisoners to arrive at the prisons on prison trucks and specially designed train carriages called Stolypins.

☆ Russian court will hear Brittney Griner's appeal Tuesday as WNBA star tries to trim 9-year sentence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — A Russian court will hear WNBA star Brittney Griner's appeal on Tuesday after the American athlete was convicted on drug charges earlier this year. "She hopes there will be some reduction in her sentence," Maria Blagovolina, Griner's lawyer, told Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, adding the 32-year-old athlete will appear in court via video conference. Griner, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was arrested in February after Russian authorities found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. Her lawyers said Griner only uses cannabis medically and unintentionally packed the cannabis canisters in her suitcase because the professional athlete was in a hurry. Under Russian law, the charge carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

CNN —Brittney Griner is appealing her verdict in Russian court Tuesday, nearly three months after the US basketball star was convicted of smuggling drugs into the country and sentenced to nine years in prison. Griner’s appeal will be considered in the Moscow Regional Court in a hearing at which her attorneys are expected to argue the verdict was unfair and unjustified under Russian law, they told CNN. The court hearing the appeal can choose to leave Griner’s verdict in place, overrule it and send it back to the lower court, or reduce Griner’s prison term, they said. “Brittney is very strong person and has a champion’s character,” Blagovolina and Boykov told CNN in a written statement ahead of Griner’s appeal. “However, she of course has her highs and lows as she is severely stressed being separated from her loved ones for over eight months.”“She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing,” they added.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoMOSCOW, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner "does not expect miracles" at her appeal hearing on Tuesday against a nine-year Russian jail term for having cannabis oil in her luggage, her lawyers said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the term," they said. Griner pleaded guilty at her trial but said she had made an "honest mistake" and not meant to break the law. Washington says Griner was wrongfully detained and has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.

☆ Cronologie: Filmul revenirii opozantului Navalny în Federația Rusă
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-22 | by ( ) www.zdg.md time to read: +10 min

Asta după ce, pe 17 ianuarie, a revenit la Moscova de la Berlin, unde urmase tratamentul, după ce a fost otrăvit. Politicianul rus a fost arestat chiar la aeroport, înainte de a reuși să prezinte actele pentru a intra în țară. Procesul de judecată pe cazul lui Navalny a avut loc chiar la secția de poliție, în aceeași zi. Germania a afirmat că Alexei Navalny a fost otrăvit de un agent neurotoxic „de tip Noviciok”. Alexei Navalny a fost internat de urgență în spitalul din Omsk.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Alexey, Vladimir Putin, Putin, mite, Navalny, Olga, Lui Navalny, . Instanța, opozantul, Iulia Navalnaya, Dmitri Peskov, FSIN, Yves Rocher, CNN, Spiegel, Omsk ., Kira Yarmysh Organizations: Compania, Airlines, Navalny, UE, FSB Locations: Moscova, Berlin, Sankt - Petersburg, Rusia, străinătate, SUA, Navalny, Germania, Federației Ruse, Rusiei, Insider, Noviciok, rus, Germaniei, Omsk, Tomsk

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