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The Legendary Troll Kingdom
NBA star Brittney Griner returned to the United States in a prisoner swap with Russia toward the end of 2022, but not everyone was so lucky. U.S. Marine Paul Whelan remains in a Russian prison. He was not included in President Biden's prisoner swap with Russia at the end of 2022. It was a straight one-for-one swap, with Griner heading home and arms dealer Viktor Bout going back to Russia. Many thought that Whelan would be included in the deal. Griner thought this, too.
"[Griner] said she got on the plane thinking that Paul Whelan was going to be on that plane, too," ABC's Robin Roberts shared from the interview with Griner set to air this month.
A U.S. official, meanwhile, says that there wasn't a choice being made. “This was not a situation where we had a choice of which American to bring home. It was a choice between bringing home one particular American – Brittney Griner – or bringing home none,” a US senior administration official said about the swap. Whelan, meanwhile, was understandably disappointed. “I was led to believe that things were moving in the right direction, and that the governments were negotiating and that something would happen fairly soon,” he said.
"[Griner] said she got on the plane thinking that Paul Whelan was going to be on that plane, too," ABC's Robin Roberts shared from the interview with Griner set to air this month.
A U.S. official, meanwhile, says that there wasn't a choice being made. “This was not a situation where we had a choice of which American to bring home. It was a choice between bringing home one particular American – Brittney Griner – or bringing home none,” a US senior administration official said about the swap. Whelan, meanwhile, was understandably disappointed. “I was led to believe that things were moving in the right direction, and that the governments were negotiating and that something would happen fairly soon,” he said.