Griner, the US basketball star and Olympic gold medalist, has been transferred to a penal colony 300 miles from Moscow, while Russian national Bout was apprehended in a sting in 2008.
Russia hopes to make a prisoner swap with the United States in exchange for the release of basketball star Brittney Griner in exchange for a convicted arms trafficker known as the “Merchant of Death.”
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Moscow and Washington are currently discussing a possible exchange.
According to her lawyers, Griner was transferred to a penal colony in Mordovia, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) southeast of Moscow.
The all-star centre with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medal winner was detained in February when customs agents said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
At her trial, Griner admitted having the canisters in her luggage, but testified she packed them inadvertently in haste to make her flight and had no criminal intent.
Her defence team presented written statements saying she had been prescribed cannabis to treat chronic pain.
She was convicted in August and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Speaking about the possibility of a prisoner swap, Mr Ryabkov said: “I want to hope that the prospect not only remains but is being strengthened, and that the moment will come when we will get a concrete agreement.”
“The Americans are showing some external activity, we are working professionally through a special channel designed for this.
“Viktor Bout is among those who are being discussed, and we certainly count on a positive result.”
Who is Viktor Bout?
Variously dubbed “the merchant of death” and “the sanctions buster” for his ability to get around arms embargoes, Bout was one of the world’s most wanted men prior to his 2008 arrest on multiple charges related to arms trafficking.
For almost two decades, Bout was one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, selling weaponry to rogue states, rebel groups and murderous warlords in Africa, Asia, and South America.
Ever since his capture in an elaborate US sting, the Russian state has been keen to bring him back.