Moscow, Washington exchange prisoners

US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that basketball player Brittney Griner is "on her way" to the United States after Moscow confirmed her release as part of a prisoner exchange that included Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
     
The US athlete was arrested at a Moscow airport in February and sentenced to nine years in August for possessing an electronic smoking machine containing a small amount of marijuana oil.
      
"Moments ago, I spoke with Brittney Griner. She is safe and on a plane en route to the United States," Biden said on Twitter.

 

"Her spirits are high," he added, but she needs time and privacy to overcome the "shock."