A Russian court docket has prolonged the detention of the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner to Could 19, the Russian information company Tass reported on Thursday, including stress to probably the most harmful second in U.S.-Russia relations because the 1962 Cuban missile disaster.
Ms. Griner, 31, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star middle for the Phoenix Mercury, is being held on drug fees that might carry a sentence of as much as 10 years in jail.
The Russian Federal Customs Service mentioned earlier this month that its officers had detained the American basketball participant after they discovered vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her baggage on the Sheremetyevo airport close to Moscow in February. They didn’t instantly launch the identify of Ms. Griner, who was later recognized by Tass.
Ms. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is certainly one of a number of W.N.B.A. gamers who compete on worldwide girls’s groups within the low season to complement paychecks which might be a fraction of their counterparts’ salaries within the N.B.A. She has performed for the Russian group, UMMC Ekaterinburg, since 2014.
Consultant Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, informed the Occasions final week that Ms. Griner, a Texas native, had been detained on Feb. 17 and that he was working with the State Division to have her launched. Russian authorities have thus far denied the State Division’s request for a gathering between consular officers and Ms. Griner, Mr. Allred mentioned.
American officers, together with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, have mentioned that sure particulars surrounding Ms. Griner’s detention couldn’t be disclosed attributable to privateness constraints.
Since she was detained, household and buddies of Ms. Griner have come ahead to precise their shared need to get her house safely.
Ms. Griner’s spouse, Cherelle T. Griner, mentioned in an Instagram submit final week, “We love you babe!” and “There aren’t any phrases to precise this ache.”
The State Division has suggested all U.S. residents in Russia to go away the nation and has warned that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has “extreme limitations” on its capability to supply help to People there. The W.N.B.A. mentioned on Mar. 5 that each one of its different gamers in Ukraine and Russia had left these international locations.