Inside Brittney Griner's life in a penal colony trends now
Fresh footage from Russian state television Thursday showed Brittney Griner's life inside a Russian penal colony before she was released to be swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist is shown in line for food and dining with another prisoner.
The six-foot-nine basketball player is shown making a very narrow, very short bed.
Footage also showed Griner with her short hair placed in a white wrap doing some sort of work at the penal colony, with that footage dated November 28 - a day before another video showed Griner signing papers to be released.
Conditions in Russian penal colonies have been described as horrific, with prisoners being overworked and kept in 'slave-like conditions.'
Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, said it's like 'a friendly concentration camp,' after he was kept in a Russian penal colony about 50 miles from Moscow. He also said the ever-present cameras and policing reminded him of the George Orwell novel, 1984.
Last month, Navalny said he was moved to indefinite solitary confinement.
Bout was being kept in United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois and had five years left on his sentence.
The footage showed him laughing and cheerful on the plane-ride home.
Russian state television released footage of Brittney Griner's life inside a Russian penal colony. Here they're showing that they fed the basketball star during her imprisonment
Brittney Griner is shown eating with another inmate while imprisoned at a Russian penal colony
Brittney Griner is shown making a very narrow and short bed for her six-foot-nine foot frame
The Russian state TV footage showed images of Brittney Griner's bed
Brittney Griner is also shown working while imprisoned in a Russian penal colony
The footage was dated November 28, one day before footage released earlier Thursday showed her signing papers. It was unclear at that point if she knew she was being released
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was being kept in United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois and had five years left on his sentence
Inside United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, where Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was serving his sentence before being swapped for Brittney Griner
Footage released earlier Thursday showed Griner smiling when she was told she was going home.
Griner is shown with a shaved head, signing papers at the Russian gulag where she'd been held since August, and then emerging from the prison carrying bags.
The date on the videos taken in custody is November 29.
In an image from today, she is then seen on a plane where she is told that she will be going back to the US. Asked what her mood was, she said: 'Happy.'
While a win for Griner - who was convicted of possessing two cartridges of cannabis oil while entering Russia in February - the deal has been slammed as an embarrassing 'surrender' for the Biden administration.
Republican critics see it as a gift to Putin and his war effort in Ukraine. They consider it a damning indictment on Biden's diplomatic track record, and are appalled by the involvement of Saudi Arabia in negotiating.
The White House today denied that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved, but also thanked the UAE for the 'use of their territory,' in what seemed to be a conflicting statement.
Brittney Griner seen on a plane where she is told that she will be going back to the US. Asked what her mood was, she said: 'Happy'
Merchant of Death Viktor Bout is shown on his private jet after being released from US custody
Griner above, smiling during an interaction with officials. It's unclear when she was told that she'd be going home
Griner is shown signing papers on November 29 - it's unclear if she knew at this point that she was going home
