Brittney Griner recalls fight to survive as she details ‘dehumanizing’ conditions of Russian prison

WNBA player Brittney Griner has opened up about what life was like during her 10 months in a Russian prison.

The professional basketball player was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in Russia in February 2022 after cannabis oil was found in her luggage.

The 33-year-old Phoenix Mercury star ended up being convicted and locked up in one of the country's most notorious prisons - IK-2 in Mordovia, an isolated colony - after being found with 0.7 grams of cannabis oll on her person.

She was later charged and sentenced to a whopping nine years in prison.

It was only in December 2022, that Griner was released from custody after the US government managed to secure a release deal, exchanging Griner for a man dubbed 'the merchant of death'.

And Griner has since opened up about her 10-month detainment and what she was forced to do 'to survive'.

The basketball player spent 10 months detained in Russia ( Lance King/Getty Images)

In an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America, the sportsperson gave an insight into her book Coming Home which details her experience in Russia and eventually being released.

Griner recalls her mattress in the prison having a 'huge blood stain on it' and being given 'thin two sheets' noting 'you're basically laying on bars'.

"From the middle of my shin to my feet, stuck through the bars," she continued.

"Which in prison you don’t really want to stick your leg and arm through bars because someone could go up and grab it, break it, twist it and that was what was going through my mind."

Griner was charged with illegal possession of cannabis (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

With ABC's Robin Roberts saying the basketball player described the experience as 'dehumanizing' Griner added she was given one toilet roll to last a month and notes there was even 'like two-three months' she 'didn't get anything'.

She said her toothpaste was 15 years out of date so inmates would 'put it on the black mold to kill the mold on the walls' instead.

Thankfully, the basketball player shared a cell with a person called Alana who helped translate for her. She noted if it wasn't for her cellmate, she 'wouldn't have made it'.

And Griner also doesn't think she would've made it had she not cut off her dreadlocks - a move she made after being transferred to IK-2.

She explained: "We had spiders above my bed making nests, my dreads started to freeze, they were wet and cold and I was getting sick.

"You got to do what you got to do to survive."

Topics: Celebrity, Crime, Drugs, Mental Health, Russia, Sport, US News

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.