When Griner was imprisoned in Russia, letters were her main form of communication with home. Our columnist offers one last letter to mark her return to the United States.
Past hostage exchanges have sparked criticism, but the response to Brittney Griner’s homecoming has been fueled by the politics of race, gender and sexual orientation.
The scene on the tarmac with Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout didn’t just show a prisoner trade. It told the story of where two rival countries had landed decades after the Cold War.
U.S. officials say Moscow had been pushing for the release of a Russian assassin being held in Germany before finally agreeing to release Ms. Griner for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer.