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☆ Paul Whelan's continued detention in Russia a 'catastrophe,' family says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia June 15, 2020. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release, we are not giving up. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, is serving 16 years in the Russian region of Mordovia on charges of espionage, which he denies. "So a basketball star is released, we can celebrate, but what about Paul Whelan? "We'll keep negotiating in good faith for Paul's release.

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.

☆ Viktor Bout: The Russian arms dealer swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Brittney Griner’s freedom ultimately hinged on the release of a convicted Russian arms dealer whose life story inspired a Hollywood film. On Thursday, a source told CNN that the US basketball star had been released from Russian detention in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” by his accuser. Viktor Bout is pictured in a temporary cell ahead of a hearing at a court in Bangkok in August 2010. Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images“His early days are a mystery,” Douglas Farah, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center who co-authored a book on Bout, told CNN in 2010. He said that Bout graduated from the Military Institute on Foreign Languages, a well-known feeder school for Russian military intelligence.

☆ Family concerned about whereabouts of Whelan, American jailed in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The brother of Paul Whelan, an American jailed in Russia, said on Tuesday his family is concerned about his whereabouts after not hearing from him for days and unclear messages from the prison staff that he was moved to the prison hospital. David Whelan, the brother of Paul, said that the family does not definitely know where Paul is. David Whelan added that when transferred to the prison's hospital in the past, Paul had always mentioned the move in his phone calls. David Whelan said in an emailed statement, adding that Paul appeared healthy and well to the diplomats. David Whelan said that the family has not been in contact with the White House, just with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the State Department.

☆ U.S. deeply concerned about Whelan, American jailed in Russia -White House
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Doina Chiacu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The United States is "deeply concerned" about detained American Paul Whelan in Russia, and has not been able to get information from Moscow on his whereabouts or condition, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. U.S. diplomats in Moscow were working to get details on what was going on with Whelan, Kirby said. "But yes, we are deeply concerned about the lack of information and the lack of contact from Paul," he added. It's highly unusual," David Whelan said. When transferred to the prison's hospital in the past, his brother had always mentioned the move in his phone calls, David Whelan said.

☆ Brittney Griner Has Begun Serving Nine-Year Sentence at a Russian Penal Colony
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW—U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has begun serving her nine-year drug conviction at a Russian penal colony notorious for its tough and unsanitary conditions, in a development likely to intensify urgency around calls for her release. Ms. Griner’s legal team said Thursday that the two-time Olympian was at the IK-2 female penal colony in Mordovia, around 300 miles southeast of Moscow, where they visited her earlier this week.

☆ Russian prison activist paints picture of life facing Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Filipp Lebedev | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's prison service has not responded to questions from Reuters about living and working conditions in such institutions. This is where in the morning they have the daily inspection, rollcall and physical exercise, whatever the weather. They always wear uniform. Breakfast is definitely going to be porridge - not with milk, and it’s porridge made from barley, that’s the most “popular”. The Gulag, created in 1933, and the current prison system (in Russia) are identical except for the name.

☆ 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.

☆ Brittney Griner taken to penal colony in Russia's Mordovia region - lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia, her lawyers said in a statement on Thursday. Reuters had earlier reported the transfer, citing a source familiar with the case. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years on drugs charges following her arrest at a Moscow airport with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. Reporting by Reuters; editing by David Ljunggren and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brittney Griner taken to remote, all-female Russian penal colony to serve 9-year sentence: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Brittney Griner was moved to a penal colony in Russia's Mordovia, Reuters reported. A source familiar with the situation told the outlet that she has been moved to Female Penal Colony IK-2 in Yavas, a small town about 300 miles southeast of Moscow. On November 4, she was moved from a detention center near Moscow to an unknown location, the outlet reported. A satellite image of the IK-2 penal colony in Yavas, Russia. Griner was arrested on drugs charges in February, after she was found with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

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.

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