‘No one should be left behind’: WNBA star Brittney Griner reflects on her release from Russian prison on ’20/20′ special

WNBA star Brittney Griner reflected on the moment she learned the United States had secured her release from Russian detention and expressed support for repatriating other Americans unjustly detained abroad in an edition special of “20/20” which will air Wednesday evening at 10 p.m. pm ET on ABC. “Good Morning America” will air a first look earlier today.

“I saw that newspaper and I was so thrilled,” Griner told “GMA” co-anchor Robin Roberts as she reflected on a note she received that indicated she was going to to be released from Russian detention after almost ten months.

“It said, ‘be ready to go,'” Griner said, remembering reading the note.

Griner, 33, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and nine-time WNBA All-Star who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on February 17, 2022 at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki after being accused of having vape cartridges. containing cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country. Griner was returning to Russia to play during the WNBA offseason.

She was arrested a week before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. The war has stoked tensions between Russia and the United States, and some U.S. officials, including lawmakers in Griner’s hometown of Houston, have expressed concern that Americans imprisoned in Russia could be used as leverage in the ongoing conflict.

The U.S. State Department classified Griner’s case as “wrongfully detained” in May 2022 and the Biden administration worked for months to secure her freedom.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges on July 7, 2022, saying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were unintentionally in his luggage. She said she had “no intention” of breaking Russian law and had packed the cartridges by accident.

Amid growing pressure on the United States to secure her freedom, the WNBA star was released on December 8, 2022, after U.S. officials agreed to trade Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout , convicted, whose capture in Thailand in 2008 marked the end of a war. the United States’ nearly decade-long hunt to stop him.

“Being exchanged for someone known as the “Merchant of Death”; Some Americans thought it wasn’t a fair trade,” Roberts told Griner. “That he was a heinous criminal and that he should be traded when maybe he should have been traded to someone else. What do you say to those who think this is not a balanced exchange?

“If it was up to me to decide this job, I would have picked up Paul and brought him home,” Griner said, referring to the case of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine accused of espionage in Russia, where he was detained. since December 2018 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence.

“But any time we can bring an American home, it’s a win for Americans.” No one should be left behind,” Griner added.

Roberts asked Griner about an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, “Coming Home,” due to be released May 7, in which Griner writes that she hoped to be joined on the plane back to the United States by someone from ‘other.

“You wrote that you hoped to see someone else on that plane,” Roberts said. “You were hoping to see Paul Whelan.”

Griner nodded, saying, “When I went on and didn’t see him, I was like, ‘OK, maybe I’m early.’ Maybe he’s next. Maybe they’ll bring him in next,” she said of Whelan.

“And when they closed the door, I was like…are you seriously not going to let this man come home now? » added Griner, recounting his disappointment.

Since her release, Griner has become a vocal advocate for Americans unjustly detained abroad, including Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia in March 2023 and charged with espionage. The U.S. government has designated Whelan and Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained” — a classification that allows additional resources to be allocated to their cases as the United States works to secure their release.

Griner vowed in a heartfelt Instagram post on Dec. 16, 2022, in which she thanked those who advocated for her release, to “do whatever I can to help” bring home other Americans unjustly detained at the ‘stranger.

“President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” Griner wrote. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone who played a role in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.

ABC News’ Eboni Griffin, Joseph Diaz, Gail Deutsch, Susan Welsh, Netsanet Negussie, Kaitlin Amoroso, Danielle Genet and Chris Donovan contributed to this report.