WNBA player Brittney Griner claimed that during her first two weeks in a Russian prison following her arrest in 2022 on drug-related charges, she considered taking her own life.



Griner made her first remarks regarding her months-long captivity in Russia in an interview that ABC broadcasted on Wednesday, May 1.



May 7 is when her memoir, “Coming Home,” will be available.



After landing at a Moscow airport, Griner was taken into custody by Russian officials who said that vape cartridges purportedly containing cannabis oil had been found in her luggage during a search.

“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks,” Griner told interviewer Robin Roberts. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”

She decided against it in part because she was afraid the Russian authorities wouldn’t release her body to her family. 

Her plight unfolded at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S., ending only after she was freed in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. 

Griner said before she was released, she was forced to write a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They made me write this letter. It was in Russian,” she said. “I had to ask for forgiveness and thanks from their so-called great leader. I didn’t want to do it, but at the same time I wanted to come home.” 

She was disappointed when she got on the plane for the trade and discovered that Paul Whelan, another American who has been detained in Russia, wasn’t with her. 

“I walked on and didn’t see him, maybe he’s next. Maybe they will bring him next,” she said. “They closed the door and I was like, are you serious? You’re not going to let this man come home now.”

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