ブリトニー・グリナーの妻 シェレル says her “family is whole” again after the WNBA star was released from Russian custody.

Shortly after news broke that Brittney, 32, had been released from Russian custody in a prisoner exchange for a convinced arms dealer, Cherelle spoke during a 記者会見 が主催する ジョー・バイデン at the White House Thursday about her wife’s release.

“So over the last nine months, you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life, and so today I am just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration,” 彼女は始めました.

Noting how Biden, 80, previously mentioned that getting an American citizen back from overseas detainment “is not easy,” シェレルは続けた, “There’s been so many hands involved, and so I’d like to take a moment to just specifically mention a few.”

Shouting out Vice President カマラハリス and Griner’s fellow Phoenix Mercury basketball players, 他の多くの中で, Cherelle then added, “Today my family is whole, but as you all are aware, there’s so many other families who aren’t whole.” She then cited ポール・ウィーラン, another American who remains jailed in Russia and who was not included in the swap centered around Griner.

“Thank you everybody for your support, and today’s just a happy day for me and my family, so I’m gonna smile right now,” Cherelle added. “ありがとうございました。”

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グリナー, who was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on drug smuggling charges, だった released in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout 木曜日に, CBSニュースが報じた, citing a U.S. official.

The exchange agreement between Griner and Bout was recently negotiated with Moscow and was given final approval by Biden last Thursday, five former U.S. officials told the outlet.

から最大の物語を手に入れたい 人 毎週平日? 新しいポッドキャストを購読する, 毎日の人々, 本質的な有名人を取得するには, 月曜日から金曜日までのエンターテインメントとヒューマンインタレストのニュース記事.

Before delivering his remarks during the same press conference as Cherelle, バイデン ツイート: “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” alongside photographs of himself, ハリス, 58, and Cherelle.

Griner was previously sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 10, just below the maximum allowed sentence of 10 年. Griner’s lawyers said at the time, PEOPLEと共有された声明の中で, that the verdict, は “absolutely unreasonable” and said they will “certainly file an appeal.”

関連動画: WNBA Star Brittney Griner Released from Russian Custody in Prisoner Swap

In his Thursday morning speech, Biden celebrated Griner’s release from Russian custody. “Good morning folks, and it is a good morning,” バイデン, who was standing before Harris and シェレル, 始めた.

“Moments ago, standing together with her wife Cherelle in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittney Griner. 彼女は 安全な, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home after months of being unjustly detained ロシアで, held under intolerable circumstances,” 彼は続けた.

“Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should’ve been there all along,” Biden added. “This is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time. We never stopped pushing for her release. It took painstaking and intense negotiations, and I wanna thank all the hardworking public servants across my administration who worked tirelessly to secure her release.”

He then also thanked “the UAE for helping us facilitate Brittney’s return, cause that’s where she landed. These past few months have been hell for Brittney and for Cherelle, and her entire family and all her teammates back home,” 彼は言った.

Biden later noted that Griner will be back in the U.S. NS “次 24 時間。”