Report: U.S. State Department Requests Russia to Provide Consular Access to Brittney Griner

Hours after Brittney Griner’s Russian detention was extended to May 19, reports surfaced that consular officials have not had access to Griner, according to ESPN’s TJ Quinn.

The U.S. State Department insisted that the “Russian government provide consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, including this in pre-trial detention” like Griner, per Quinn. 

Griner has been in Russian detention since February after the Russian Federal Customs Service says it discovered vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow.

Hashish oil is a more concentrated form of marijuana, and is often used in vape form. The “large-scale transportation of drugs,” according The New York Times, carries a hefty punishment if charges are handed down in Russia.

According to ESPN, Griner could face a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The 31-year-old has had limited contact with the outside world and the handful of times she’s been seen publicly were via Russian State TV, when it released a picture of Griner, and a video of customs going through her baggage surfaced.

Per Quinn, family and representatives who frequently visit with Griner said “they would not say she’s good, but she’s OK.”

While Griner was detained in February, public knowledge of her arrest did not surface until early March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and when sanctions were already underway against the country.

Griner, who plays for the Russian basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA offseason, was on her way of the country in the wake of the Ukraine invasion when her bag was searched.