Phoenix Mercury star center Brittney Griner has been imprisoned in Russia for 230 days. As she waits for her appeal, which is set for Oct. 25, to a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, her wife Cherelle Griner reiterated the emotional battle Brittney's loved ones have gone through over the last eight months. Cherelle referred to Brittney as a “hostage” in a sit-down interview with CBS Mornings.

“It's like a movie for me,” Cherelle Griner said. “In no world, did I ever (think) that our president and a foreign nation president would be sitting down having to discuss the freedom of my wife. So to me as much as everyone is telling me a different definition of what BG is, it feels to me as if she’s a hostage.

“It terrifies me because when you watch movies sometimes those situations don't end well,” she continued. “Sometimes they never get the person back.

“This is my life, so I am sitting there, like, do we get her back, do I ever get to see my wife again? It's terrifying.”

Cherelle Griner met with President Joe Biden last month, and his administration has been negotiating with Russia for Brittney's release. However, until the date of her appeal was announced on Oct. 3, there has been silence around the situation. The WNBA has tried to support Griner and her family from afar by posting every day on social media calling for her release. In the second half of this year's All-Star Game, each team wore Brittney's number while the league named her an honorary starter.

WNBA players, who supplement their lower incomes in the league by playing overseas, also have withdrawn their names from playing in Russia. UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian ball club, has rostered WNBA greats such as Dianna Taurasi, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Courtney Vandersloot (to name a few). Now, they will wait to see how Russia handles Griner's legal situation.