Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury WNBA star Brittney Griner remains detained in Russia on alleged charges that cannabis vape cartridges were found in her luggage.
However, she is not the only American being held there. Paul Whelan has been held in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges. He and the U.S. government say the accusations are false.
Whelan was left out of a prisoner exchange in April that brought home yet another detainee, Marine veteran Trevor Reed.
That resolution escalates pressure on the Biden administration to avoid a repeat scenario of another one-for-one swap that does not include Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan.