A prisoner exchange gets a lot of attention in both the United States and Russia. Why did the US agree to release a feared arms smuggler? And why was it so important for Vladimir Putin?
At first glance, the change seems strange. Brittney Griner is a famous basketball player with two Olympic gold medals. However, the offense for which she was sentenced to nine years of hard labor was a minor one. She was caught with an ounce of marijuana at a Moscow airport last winter.
Viktor Ma, for his part, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States. He is said to have been smuggling weapons to brutal regimes and warlords for many years. He is now a free man and has returned to Russia. This is despite the fact that in the United States he has long been linked to Russian intelligence and the circle around Vladimir Putin.
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