--- title: Brittney Griner Makes First Public Statement Since Release description: On Friday, Brittney Griner shared her first public statement since being released from her nearly 10-month stint in Russian custody. canonical: https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/ author: Anisha Kohli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-12-16T17:16:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:11:33.141Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Brittney Griner Makes First Public Statement Since Release og:description: “It feels so good to be home!" the WNBA star wrote, in part, on Instagram og:url: https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f9436bf9d013be/698a38eab21a9cdf0c506cd2/griner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Phoenix Mercury v Las Vegas Aces - Game Two og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brittney Griner Makes First Public Statement Since Release twitter:description: “It feels so good to be home!" the WNBA star wrote, in part, on Instagram twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f9436bf9d013be/698a38eab21a9cdf0c506cd2/griner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Brittney Griner Makes First Public Statement Since Release From Russian Prison ## Video: What to Know About Brittney Griner's Release from a Russian Penal Colony [Watch (HLS stream): What to Know About Brittney Griner's Release from a Russian Penal Colony](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L7lrkEL3.m3u8) (3:27)  _Published 2022-12-08. In one of the most surprising and uplifting days of the Biden presidency, Griner is on her way home for the holidays, following a prisoner swap that saw her released in exchange for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout._  by [Anisha Kohli](/author/anisha-kohli/)  ## Anisha Kohli Dec 16, 2022 5:16 PM CUT  Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury leaves the court after Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 30, 2021. Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury leaves the court after Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 30, 2021.Ethan Miller—Getty Images  by [Anisha Kohli](/author/anisha-kohli/)  ## Anisha Kohli Dec 16, 2022 5:16 PM CUT On Friday, [Brittney Griner shared her first public statement](https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPAWB5O8F1/ "undefined") since being released from her nearly 10-month stint in Russian custody, sharing her gratitude to those who helped bring her home, declaring her intent to resume playing for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury next season and calling on efforts to bring more Americans home, including Paul Whelan. “It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn,” Griner wrote in an Instagram post accompanied by photographs of her stepping off the plane and reconnecting with her wife. “I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.” Griner was detained in Moscow in February for drug smuggling and possession of cannabis—which she had less than one gram of—and shuffled through months of court proceedings that ended in August when she received a nine-year sentence and was sent to a remote Russian penal colony. U.S. officials deemed Griner to be “wrongfully detained” and advocated for her release but were unsuccessful until the Russian government agreed to a prisoner exchange, returning Griner for Viktor Bout, the notorious Russian arms dealer who had been in an American penitentiary for a decade. Griner returned to U.S. soil on Dec. 8\. In her statement, Griner personally thanked her wife and other family members, her teammates and the rest of the WNBA community, her legal team in Russia, the activists and organizations who advocated for her return, the support and medical staff that helped her acclimate to the return and the Biden-Harris administration. Griner paid special thanks to President Biden and his commitment to bringing her and other Americans home, saying, “every family deserves to be whole.” “President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too. I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home.” Griner also said that she will be playing again in the WNBA., “I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon. Love always, BG #42,” she wrote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/"},"headline":"Brittney Griner Makes First Public Statement Since Release From Russian Prison","datePublished":"2022-12-16T17:16:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:11:33.141Z","description":"“It feels so good to be home!\" the WNBA star wrote on Instagram","url":"https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/","keywords":["nationpod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f9436bf9d013be/698a38eab21a9cdf0c506cd2/griner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anisha Kohli","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/anisha-kohli/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f9436bf9d013be/698a38eab21a9cdf0c506cd2/griner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Phoenix Mercury v Las Vegas Aces - Game Two","caption":"Phoenix Mercury v Las Vegas Aces - Game Two","creditText":"Ethan Miller—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/","name":"Brittney Griner Makes First Public Statement Since Release From Russian Prison"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to Know About Brittney Griner's Release from a Russian Penal Colony","description":"In one of the most surprising and uplifting days of the Biden presidency, Griner is on her way home for the holidays, following a prisoner swap that saw her released in exchange for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/L7lrkEL3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-12-08T16:05:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L7lrkEL3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/","duration":"PT3M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6241817/brittney-griner-makes-statment-russia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```