Brittney Griner has revealed that she considered taking her own life several times while detained in a Russian prison following her arrest in 2022.
She was freed in a 1-for-1 exchange with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022 who has since been criticized for failing to return Paul Whelan, a US Marine imprisoned on espionage charges in 2018.
However, before she could be released, Griner considered taking her own life with the conditions at the Russian detention center making her feel “less than human,” she revealed to ABC’s Robin Roberts.
“I wanted to take my life more than once during those first weeks,” he said in the interview on 20/20: Prisoner of Russia. “I wanted to get out of here so bad.”
Brittney Griner revealed that she considered taking her own life several times in a Russian prison
The WNBA superstar sat down with ABC’s Robin Roberts on 20/20: Prisoner of Russia
‘I didn’t think I could overcome what I needed. “I definitely thought about it,” he added of considering suicide.
‘But then I thought: What would happen if they didn’t give my body to my family? And I thought, I can’t put them through that. I have to endure this.’
Griner’s suicidal thoughts arose in the city of Yavas in Mordovia, a region known for its prison camps, as he had to endure the most “dirty” conditions in his cell.
The basketball superstar detailed the shocking conditions, including the discovery of a “large knife” left in his cell when he first entered.
‘When we enter the cell, there is a bathroom. There is a little rinkity sink that leaks and then just adds a layer of dust, dirt, grime, blood stains. Just crap,” she said.
‘I had a couple of shirts, a couple of sweatshirts and shoes on my feet. One of my t-shirts, I tore it up and used one to clean myself. I used one as toilet paper. With my dirty, dirty hole in the ground with feces everywhere.
“That was the moment I felt dirtiest and, like, less than a human.”
Griner also revealed that the food the prisoners were fed included cement-like porridge and small pieces of fish “with nothing but bones.”
Viktor Bout, whom some call the ‘Merchant of Death’, was arrested for terrorism in 2008.
However, the worst experiences occurred when prisoners were allowed to spend time outside, he explained.
“You’re supposed to have 15 minutes outside,” he said. 15 minutes is sometimes two hours. It’s a snow storm. It’s cold. It is winter. They are snowing you.
‘And those days were the hardest because it was like, “Come get us.” We are screaming. We are screaming. You know, we’re rattling the bars like, take us to the house, take us inside.
Griner had been arrested at a Moscow airport, and Russian authorities claimed she was caught entering the country with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
Griner was held in a detention center near Moscow until November of that year, when she was transferred to an undisclosed prison.
The basketball star was then taken to a penal colony in Mordovia, a Russian region about 300 miles southeast of Moscow, to serve his nine-year sentence on drug charges.
Finally, in December 2022, the 6-foot-9 WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist was freed in a prisoner exchange by arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner recently re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury, her only WNBA team, ahead of this year’s Olympics in Paris.
But this summer will also see the 33-year-old welcome her first child with Cherelle.
Griner and his partner Cherelle revealed last month that they are expecting a baby.
“We’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being,” Cherelle revealed.
Griner and Cherelle, who first got engaged in 2018, announced that they are expecting their first baby together.
“I can’t believe we are less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being,” Cherelle Griner wrote in instagram last month.
She posted a photo of her and Brittney holding hands, as well as scans of the baby, along with the hashtags ‘#BabyGrinerComingSoon’ and ‘#July2024’.
Griner previously had twins with his ex-wife and fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson in 2015, but they divorced just a year later.
For help, call Samaritans on 116123 in the UK or visit www.samaritans.org, or Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on 988 in the US.