From airports to space stations, a new threat is emerging for high-profile Americans caught up in Vladimir Putin’s orbit-spanning sphere of influence — the inability to make their way home. In a throwback to the Cold War days when borders were closed and space was not only a frontier but a front, both a basketball superstar and an American astronaut who holds the record for longest space flight are at the mercy of the Russian strongman.The fates of the WNBA’s Brittney Griner and Mark Vande Hei is emerging as a disturbing subplot to the deteriorating ties between Mr. Putin’s regime and America. The world has not heard from Mrs. Griner three weeks after she was taken into custody by Russian authorities at Pushkin International Airport on allegations of possessing vaping cartridges filled with oil derived from cannabis.The drug possession charges carry a potential prison sentence of 10 years behind bars in Russian prison. Mrs. Griner, a member of the Phoenix Mercury, has played in Russia the last seven winters, earning a million dollars a year, or quadruple her WNBA salary, the Associated Press reports. ABC has reported that Mr. Vande Hei, who is aboard the International Space Station, is in danger of being left behind by Russian cosmonauts. The head of Russia’s space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, threatened in a video posted online to abandon Mr. Vande Hei in orbit and detach the Russian wing from the ISS. Mr. Vande Hei is supposed to land in Kazakhstan in three weeks, aboard a Russ aircraft and accompanied by cosmonauts. NASA has not responded to these threats. The ISS is about 248 miles away from earth. This ratcheting up of tensions comes weeks after President Biden mentioned in his State of the Union address that a clutch of sanctions would “degrade” Russia’s “aerospace industry” and “space program.” Last spring, Russia announced that it was considering pulling out of the International Space Station altogether and building one on its own. It has also signed an agreement with China to build a lunar research facility on the surface of the moon. Back on the Earth’s surface, concerns are surfacing that Mrs. Griner will be used as a geopolitical pawn at a moment when the relationship between the two great powers is at its lowest ebb since the Cold War. Video footage from the Russian airport shows Mrs. Griner being led through security on February 17. A March 8 photograph of her was beamed out on Russia state television, with the WNBA star holding up a piece of paper with her name written on it in what appears to be a police station. When reached by the Sun, a WNBA spokesperson said Mrs. Griner “has the WNBA’s full support and our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States.” Mrs. Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Kolas, told ESPN that that “as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”Congressman Colin Allred, who like Mrs. Griner attended Baylor University, has become involved in her case. In a statement, Mr. Allred said his office “has been in touch with the State Department” to secure Mrs. Griner’s release, but that “the Russian criminal justice system is very different than ours, very opaque.” Mr. Allred said it was “ extremely concerning” and “unusual” that Mrs. Griner has been incommunicado and barred from contact with American officials. All Americans are currently warned to avoid traveling to Russia, which has been put on the “Do No Travel” list by the State Department due to “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials.” Mrs. Griner is hardly the only high-profile female athlete who has run afoul of an authoritarian regime. Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s whereabouts went dark late last year after she leveled harassment claims against a high level Communist Party official. Ms. Peng’s subsequent stage-managed appearances have not assuaged global concerns about her well-being. When the White House spokeswoman, Jennifer Psaki, was asked if Mrs. Griner is being used as a “bargaining chip” by Mr. Putin’s regime, she would only say that “we do not typically get into specifics” about Americans detained abroad. For both Mrs. Griner and Mr. Vande Hei, the long shadow of terrestrial politics is obscuring what they thought would otherwise be smooth return trips to American shores.
