Forced to write thanks to Putin: basketball player from the United States told about being in prison in the Russian Federation
The two -time Olympic champion and the US national team was detained on February 17, 2022, a week before the war, at the Sheremetyevo Moscow Airport. During her luggage examination, she found a vyp with Cannabis oil, which she was prescribed for medical purposes for chronic pain. Britney opened a criminal case for drug smuggling. In August 2022, a basketball player was sentenced to 9 years in prison. In December 2022, she was exchanged for a merchant Victor But.
After his release, the woman interviewed and told about the conditions in which she was kept in Russian prison. The woman said that she had suicidal thoughts in prison, and in order to relieve stress, she smashed to a pack of cigarettes a day and read the Bible. The athlete says that the working day in prison lasted 12-15 hours. She worked in the sewing shop - cut large pieces of fabric for sewing Russian military uniform. "I have never been so dirty in my life," Britney said.
The athlete says that the conditions in prison were just horrible. She was not able to take a shower, so she broke a t -shirt into a few parts to brush her teeth and use instead of toilet paper. Since the detention of the Olympic champion, her case has been discussed in the context of possible exchange. In December 2022, Grainer learned from the US Embassy exchanged for a drug dealer, and the exchange will be held in the coming days.
Britney said that on the eve of her release she had to send a letter to Vladimir Putin. "They made me write a letter. He was Russian. I had to apologize and give gratitude to their so -called great leader. I didn't want to do it, but at the same time I wanted to go home," she said. Before sending, the American was taken to the office where there was a man who was called a doctor and seven more armed guards.
The woman at them was forced to undress completely "for inspection", at the same time she was photographed. After that, the basketball player was taken to the plane, but did not say where she was flying. The plane landed to Abu Dhabi. Having released the strip, she saw her husband. It was Victor Booth, to which she was exchanged. Walking past Greener, Booth reached out to her, the American "instinctively shook her.