US trades basketballer Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer in prisoner swap

Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing in Khimki just outside Moscow on July 7 2022 (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

Jailed basketball star Brittney Griner has been released by Russia – with the US handing over notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange, officials have said.

The high-level prisoner swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieves a top goal for US President Joe Biden but carries a heavy price and leaves behind an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.