Brittney Griner thought imprisoned marine Paul Whelan would go with her when she left Russia in 'controversial swap' for arms dealer Viktor Bout, Robin Roberts reveals of upcoming ABC interview with WNBA star

Brittney Griner thought she'd be returning to the United States with fellow Russian captive and US marine Paul Whelan when she was traded in a 'controversial' prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022, ABC's Robin Roberts revealed Tuesday.

In giving a first look at the upcoming GMA interview, Roberts told her co-anchors that the WNBA star does address the trade that freed her after 10 months of captivity in Russia following her drug arrest in Moscow in February of 2022.

'She said she got on the plane thinking that Paul Whelan was going to be on that plane, too,' Roberts told her co-hosts, while discussing Griner's organization aimed at helping other imprisoned Americans overseas. 'It's called 'Bringing Our Families Home,' to help with the effort to free other detainees.'

The interview will air on May 1 as Griner prepares for her second WNBA season since her release. The 6-foot-9, 33-year-old center returned to the league last year to earn her ninth All-Star nod for the Phoenix Mercury. She and her partner Cherelle recently revealed that they are now expecting a baby 16 months after she was exchanged for Bout in a 1-for-1 deal at an airport in Abu Dhabi.

Griner had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison after being caught with a cannabis oil cartridge while returning to Russia to resume playing for her European team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. And as she revealed to Roberts, Griner's first thought upon being arrested amid the growing Ukrainian-Russian conflict was: 'My life is over right here.'

'I was just so scared,' she told Roberts. 'There was so much I didn't know.'

Griner was ultimately sent to the town of Yavas in Mordovia – a region known for its prison camps.

Hers, it turns out, was 'one of the worst,' according to Roberts.

Griner described seeing a 'huge knife' on a table at the prison camp and thinking: 'I was just like, no, this is going to be a ride. Do what you got to do to survive.'

The conditions, she said, were 'less than human.'

Menstrual stains on mattresses as well as the absence of any soap or toilet paper were just some of the indignities she faced.

That all came to an end in December of 2022, when she was freed in a 1-for-1 swap that has since been criticized for its failure to return Whelan, a US Marine imprisoned on espionage charges in 2018.

Griner and Bout crossed paths on a tarmac in the United Arab Emirates to complete the trade. Bout, referred to by some as the 'Merchant of Death,' was arrested on terrorism charges in 2008 and later convicted in the US.

The deal drew criticism from Republicans, who were upset that the White House failed to get Whelan as well. In response to attacks from the right, White House officials acknowledged prisoner swaps are costly, adding that they felt compelled to bring Griner home while they had the chance.

With her new book, Griner is hoping to help bring awareness to other Americans detained overseas, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in in 2023 for alleged espionage, as well as Whelan.

Whelan's brother said in 2022 that he fears his brother will never be returned, although he stressed that he supported the Biden Administration's deal to bring home Griner.

'I think we all realize that the math is not going to work out for Paul to come home anytime soon, unless the U.S. government is able to find concessions,' David Whelan said. 'And so I think we aren't really sure what the way forward is.'