President Joe Biden announced that WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian imprisonment after a prisoner swap.

RELATED: Life inside the Russian penal colony where Brittney Griner is serving nine years https://bit.ly/3VF0lsw

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in exchange for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, the White House confirmed. “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home'” President Biden said on Twitter.

In August, the two-time Olympian and perennial WNBA All-Star was sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty to carrying hash oil in her luggage as she returned to Moscow to play with her Russian professional team. Griner, like many WNBA players, supplements her income by playing pro overseas during the WNBA’s offseason. She has played in Russia for nine years.

» Subscribe to USA TODAY: http://bit.ly/1xa3XAh
» Watch more on this and other topics from USA TODAY: https://bit.ly/3KtpSjh
» USA TODAY delivers current local and national news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, videos and VR.

#BrittneyGriner #Russia #News