On December 8, 2022, the United States and Russia conducted a prisoner exchange,

trading Brittney Griner, a Women's National Basketball Association player and Team
USA Olympic athlete who had been convicted of cannabis possession in Russia earlier
that year and sentenced to nine years in prison, for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms
dealer who had been arrested in Thailand in 2008 and transferred to the custody of
the United States, where he was convicted of terrorism-related charges and
sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012.[1] The exchange took place at Al Bateen
Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, following months of
negotiations.

The possible release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia on
espionage charges in 2018, was also part of U.S.–Russia negotiations. Russia
refused to release Whelan along with Griner as part of the prison exchange;
President Joe Biden said that Russia was treating Whelan's case differently "for
totally illegitimate reasons".[2] The Russian position was that Whelan was an agent
and so required an exchange of comparable value such as assassin Vadim Krasikov.[3]
Griner and Bout were just considered criminals and so were of lesser value in their
view.[4]

Marc Fogel, another American detained in Russia for possessing a small amount of
marijuana, was also not included in the prisoner swap.[5] However, Sarah Krivanek,
an American detained for a domestic violence dispute, was deported from Russia on
the same day of Griner's release.[5]