“They Took Everything From Me”: Brittney Griner Opens Up About Her Time in a Russian Prison

In a heartbreaking and deeply personal revelation, WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has finally shared the most harrowing details of her 10-month detention in a Russian penal colony—an experience that left her physically drained, emotionally scarred, and forever changed.

For months, the world knew only fragments: headlines about her arrest, a grainy photo of her in a courtroom, the tense diplomatic negotiations. But now, in her own words, Griner is peeling back the curtain—and what she reveals is nothing short of gut-wrenching.

“There were days I couldn’t even cry anymore,” she says in her new interview. “I didn’t feel like a person. I was something to be controlled, watched, and broken.”

The Arrest That Changed Everything

In February 2022, Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport for allegedly carrying cannabis oil in her luggage. What followed was a legal and political storm—she was sentenced to 9 years in a Russian penal colony, igniting outrage from human rights groups and sparking fears that she had become a political pawn amid growing U.S.-Russia tensions.

But the legal nightmare was only the beginning.

A Prison Sentence Meant to Humiliate

Behind the iron gates of the Russian penal system, Griner faced a level of dehumanization that no one could have prepared her for. In her first few weeks, she says, male guards subjected her to repeated public strip searches, often under the pretext of “security protocol.” But there was nothing routine about the way it was done.

“They’d do it in front of others. I was told not to speak, not to look them in the eyes. I had to undress fully. They laughed,” she recounts. “It wasn’t about safety. It was about power.”

Cold, Cramped, and Constantly Watched

Her cell was a stark concrete box with a thin, moldy mattress and a bucket for a toilet. The windows were too high to see out of, and lights remained on nearly 24/7.

Meals consisted of watery soup, black bread, and something that vaguely resembled meat. “I lost weight fast. My skin changed. My hair was falling out,” she said.

But the worst part wasn’t the physical toll—it was the psychological warfare.

Guards allegedly referred to her using slurs and mocked her identity, her tattoos, her size, and her marriage to a woman. She was separated from other prisoners, denied books, and forbidden from making regular calls home.

“They wanted me isolated. They wanted me afraid. And most of all, they wanted me silent.”

Moments of Quiet Rebellion

Despite the despair, Griner clung to small acts of resistance: scratching calendar marks into the wall, reciting poetry in her head, or whispering the names of her loved ones. On the darkest days, she imagined herself back on the court, shooting free throws alone in a quiet gym.

“I had to create my own freedom in my mind. It was the only way I stayed alive.”

The Transfer and the Unimaginable Bargain

After nearly a year of international pressure, Griner was released in a high-profile prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. But her return to the U.S. was not the end—it was just the beginning of her healing.

Even after her homecoming, she remained mostly silent. Many believed she was simply grateful to be back. But the truth was more complex: she was trying to process what had been done to her.

Now, with a memoir in the works and renewed advocacy for wrongfully detained Americans, Griner says she’s speaking out for others who are still suffering in silence.

A Voice for the Voiceless

Brittney Griner’s story isn’t just a cautionary tale—it’s a searing indictment of the systems that allowed this to happen.

She’s now partnering with organizations focused on prisoner rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and diplomatic reform. And although she’s back on the court, scoring points and electrifying crowds, she says she’ll never be the same.

“I survived something I wasn’t supposed to. Now, I need to make that survival count.”