WNBA star Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury is still being detained in Russia. She was originally arrested over 2 months ago on drug charges by the Russian government. There were initially reports about the basketball star facing up to 5-10 years in a Russian prison. But a late March update stated that Griner would be imprisoned for the next two months at minimum. That would make May 19th the date when a final decision could be made on Griner. But the USA has grown tired of waiting for Russia to make a decision and reclassified Brittney Griner as ‘wrongfully detained' by Russia, per ESPN.

ESPN received a statement from a state department official.

“The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. With this determination, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens will lead the interagency team for securing Brittney Griner's release.”

The USA is fighting for its own. They want to bring her home as soon as possible. The ESPN article which broke the news also shared a quote from a source close to Brittney Griner.

“We feel really good about it. But we also know it can drag out, so we don't want to get our hopes too high.”

Although this breaking news is promising, this unfortunate situation could still be far from over. It should be noted that Griner is not a hostage in this situation. That would create very different circumstances.

Brittney Griner's hearing is still scheduled for May 19th. But it will be interesting to see how the USA's latest stance on the situation affects the hearing.