Brittney Griner was released last month by Russia in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout. The WNBA star endured ten months of captivity before finally returning home to her family. She was charged with carrying illicit drugs in February and was given a nine-year sentence subsequently. Ever since her arrest, the U.S. government made huge efforts to bring her back to the country. However, after her return, the government was still criticized for leaving behind ex-Marine Paul Whelan in his Mordovian penal colony. But it seems like the White House has an answer for all the disagreements from the public.

After continued negotiation with Russia for months, the U.S. government secured the freedom of Griner. Unfortunately, they were not able to do the same for former Marine Paul Whelan. This was met with a huge backlash from many.

The White House’s post about Brittney Griner

In the wake of the new year, The White House’s official Twitter account shared a series of tweets talking about some of the achievements of President Joe Biden’s administration in the past year. In the thread, the release of Brittney Griner was listed as well. The video shared with the post captured the moment when Biden revealed Griner has landed on American soil to her spouse Cherelle Griner. Cherelle was in disbelief and was overwhelmed by the massive news.

The caption of the post read, “This year, the U.S. successfully secured the release of Brittney Griner. This Administration has brought home dozens of Americans who were wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, and is continuing to work to bring home every American who continues to endure such an injustice.”

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This tweet would give high hopes to the families of Paul Whelan and other U.S. citizens who are wrongfully detained abroad. Furthermore, Griner promised to help Whelan and everyone wrongfully detained using her emboldened platform, during her first public statement after the release.

Whelan was detained in December 2018 for espionage charges when he visited the country for a friend’s wedding. He was then sentenced to 16 years in prison. Despite multiple attempts by the government to secure his freedom, he is still in captivity.

David Whelan’s comments

Paul Whelan’s brother David Whelan recently talked about the whole ordeal during an interview with PEOPLE. He talked about the hardships of his brother in the Russian penal colony. He expressed that it is hard to be optimistic after multiple failed attempts to bring his brother back.

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The conditions in the Russian prison camps are known to be brutal, where the prisoners are expected to work over 16 hours a day. David revealed that the family is usually worried when they don’t receive a call from the former Marine every day.