“I don’t know if I can take it.” American champion goes crazy in a Russian prison

Two-time Olympic basketball champion from the United States Brittney Griner continues to be in a Russian prison. Some time ago, an American basketball player insisted that she could not be broken. Now she is close to despair and is afraid to stay in places of detention forever.

Afraid not to be in time before the elections?

“Brittney’s not okay”

American basketball player Brittney Griner is serving time in a penal colony. An athlete punished for drug smuggling can stay behind bars for a long time – the court sentenced her to nine years in prison. There is, of course, the option of early release, but this requires an agreement between the top leadership of Russia and the United States regarding the exchange.

Perhaps the two-time Olympic champion hoped that she would be exchanged much faster, because the United States authorities have repeatedly announced their intention to get Greiner out of prison. But so far everything is somehow going with a creak – the proposal to exchange two American prisoners for one Russian one does not arouse great enthusiasm among decision makers in Russia. Brittney, apparently, is starting to get nervous, realizing that the chance to stay in prison for many years is quite real.

Brittney is not well. From her there were a lot of disturbing messages about the state of health. This worried me a lot. She’s going crazy. We have reached a point where even a strong person says: “Honey, I don’t know how long I can endure this,” Sherel Greiner, the wife of basketball player, quotes CNN.

“Do Your Best”

Even before Griner’s verdict was announced, and the representatives of the United States of all irons called for the release of the athlete just like that, Brittney was much more confident in herself. She declared that she was hardened, she could not be broken, although even then she assumed that upon returning home it would take some time to recover. In early July, the nerves of the UMMC star may have begun to fail. At least in her letter to President Joe Biden, timed to coincide with Independence Day, there were already some panic notes.

“Please do everything in your power to bring me home. When I sit in a Russian prison alone with my thoughts, without family and without friends, I am afraid that I might stay here forever. On July 4th, our family usually honors those who fought for our freedom, including my father, a Vietnam War veteran. Please do your best. In 2020, I voted for you and believe in your help, – Politico quoted Greiner as saying.

Brittney Greiner / Photo: © Jean Catuffe / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Whether Biden is doing everything possible to return the American is a debatable issue. But at least he meets with the basketball player’s wife to give her confidence in the favorable outcome of the case. Of course, it would be possible to agree to the proposal of the Russian side and exchange the prisoners according to the “two for two” scheme. Such a move could really bring Griner as close as possible to returning to the United States, but what if the voters do not understand the maneuver?

On the eve of the November elections to the House of Representatives, any step that allows to doubt the power of American diplomacy is undesirable for the country’s leadership, so is it worth agreeing to Russian conditions? True, if the loud promise is not fulfilled before the election day on November 8, there will be a risk that the US authorities will cool down on the issue of Greiner’s release. And in such a situation, Brittney’s excitement with an admixture of real panic is quite understandable.