The release of basketball legend Brittney Griner, who was being held in a Russian penal colony on minor drug possession charges, in exchange for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a long prison sentence in the United States, underlines an emerging trend of hostile states holding Americans to gain leverage over the US government.

(SOURCE) https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/opinions/detained-americans-cost-brittney-griner-release-bergen/index.html