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On August 4, a Russian court sentenced U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in a Russian penal colony on drug-smuggling charges.Griner had been arrested in February at a Moscow airport with hashish oil cartridges in her luggage. Her lawyers have appealed the sentence, and talks are under way to free Griner and other U.S. citizens jailed in Russia via a prisoner swap.U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of hashish oil, stands inside a defendants' cage during the reading of the court's verdict in Khimki, outside of Moscow, on August 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)On August 17, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, turned his attention to Russian citizens who have been held in U.S. prisons when asked about prisoner swaps with the United States.They include Konstantin Yaroshenko, serving 20 years in a U.S. prison on drug smuggling charges. In April, the U.S. exchanged Yaroshenko for former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, serving nine years for allegedly assaulting Russian police.Calling for Griner’s release, Reed described his detention as nightmarish and Russia’s legal system as medieval."For his part
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