Blood-Stained Mattresses, T-Shirts as Toilet Paper: Brittney Griner Details Shocking Russian Prison Conditions
After being “wrongfully detained” in Russia for nearly a year, WNBA star Brittney Griner returned home as part of a prisoner exchange in December 2022. Since then, she has resumed her basketball career with the Phoenix Mercury, was named to a ninth All-Star team and is now expecting her first child with wife, Cherelle Griner.
As she’s tried to return to as much of a normal life as possible, the star center has kept most of the details about her imprisonment to herself. Now, as her new memoir, “Coming Home,” is set to be released May 7, Brittney discussed some of the most shocking aspects of her detainment in the ABC News special “Prisoner in Russia: The Brittney Griner Interview with Robin Roberts.” We’ve gathered the most emotional and surprising revelation from the Baylor alum’s fascinating interview.
It All Started With a ‘Mental Lapse’
When news broke about Griner’s arrest, many people immediately questioned how she could forget she had vape cartridges in her bag. She called tje incident a “mental lapse.”
“Have you ever forgot your keys in your car? Left your car running? ‘Where’s my glasses?’ They’re on top of your head. ‘Where’s my phone? Oh, it’s in my pocket,’” she said. “It’s just so easy to have a mental lapse. Granted my mental lapse was on a more grand scale, but it doesn’t take away from how that can happen.”
Prison Conditions Dehumanized Her
As you would expect, the conditions in her prison cell were horrible. She had a metal bed and a hole in the floor to be her bathroom. Prisoners were only given one roll of toilet paper a month, so she was forced to tear one of her t-shirts in half and use one piece as toilet paper and the other to clean herself. This is when she felt the most dehumanized.
“The mattress had a huge blood stain on it,” Brittney said, “and they give you these thin two sheets, so you’re basically laying on bars.”
When she was moved to a prison labor camp to serve her nine year sentence, Brittney’s fate didn’t improve. There were 50 to 60 women in the space with one bathroom. She described how there was a large farm-style sink where inmates cleaned up and no hot water available. Keep in mind, this was in Russia in winter. Her large 6-foot-9 frame made things even more difficult, as the bottom of her legs went through the bars.
“In prison you don’t really want to stick your leg and arm through bars. Someone (could) go up and grab it, break it, twist it, and that’s what was going through my mind,” she said.
The “really cold” Russian temperatures and the desperate conditions led the basketball star to make another major change for survival.
Her Dreads Were Making Her Sick
The former WNBA Champion decided to cut her signature dreads because they were making her sick. She also explained how there were spiders making a nest above her bed and it just wasn’t safe to keep them.
“My dreads started to freeze,” she said. “They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to survive.”
She Spoke With “The Merchant of Death”
In December 2022, the U.S. negotiated a prisoner swap for the Texas native, exchanging her release for the return of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is also known as “The Merchant of Death.”
As Roberts showed footage of the prisoner exchange, Griner noted that the video didn’t include the moment she shook hands with Bout and spoke to him. Though she explained how uncomfortable she felt after it happened, she said they wished one another well.
She Still Feels Guilty
Obviously a trauma like this doesn’t go away just because you’re home. The two-time Olympic gold medalist teared up as she told Roberts how she still feels guilty about putting her family and teams through the situation.
“I don’t think I’ve really gotten through all the way,” shesaid. “At the end of the day, it’s my fault. And I let everybody down.”
Up next for Brittney Griner is the 2024 WNBA season, which kicks off May 14 and the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she looks forward to representing the United States with a new love and respect for her country.
“Prisoner in Russia: The Brittney Griner Interview with Robin Roberts” is now available to stream on Hulu and “Coming Home” will hit bookshelves and e-readers May 7.
