Why is WNBA Star Brittney Griner Being Detained in Russia?

It’s been nearly a month now since WNBA star Brittney Griner was detained in Russia. Russian authorities only announced Griner’s detention earlier this month, two weeks after arresting her, after allegedly finding hash oil in one of her bags at an airport in Moscow. She could face ten to twenty years in prison under Russian law.

Griner has been playing in Russia since 2014 in order to supplement her WNBA income. Financial opportunities in the U.S. for WNBA players are often much less lucrative than those available to their NBA counterparts. 

Relatively scarce details have emerged since news of Griner’s detention became public, in part due to her family’s desire to maintain privacy for the sake of her protection. But her detention is concerning for several reasons. Amid Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine, and the United States’ subsequent sanctions, diplomatic relations between the two nations are particularly fraught. 

But while Brittney Griner is the most high profile American citizen currently detained in Russia, the state department has been working for several years on the release of two other Americans being held in Russian prisons. And in addition to the complications that come with the detention of any American in an autocratic nation, there’s also the fact that Griner is a Black, openly queer woman in a country that is hostile to LGBTQ rights.

The Takeaway turns to someone who knows firsthand what it’s like being unjustly detained abroad. Jason Rezaian is a global opinions writer at the Washington Post, host of the Spotify Original Podcast 544 Days, and executive producer of the documentary Bring Them Home.