Brittney Griner reveals suicidal thoughts after Russia arrest, forced to write letter to Putin

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WNBA star Brittney Griner said she wanted to die by suicide when she first was arrested and put into a Russian jail in 2022 in an interview that aired on Wednesday.

Griner spoke to ABC News’ Robin Roberts and talked at length about her experience in Russia when she was arrested on drug smuggling charges. 

Previous clips of the interview showed Griner blaming a "mental lapse" for having cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage, and she detailed what it was like staying in the prison system for over 10 months.

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Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, is escorted to the courtroom to hear the court's final decision in Khimki, outside of Moscow, on Aug. 4, 2022. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

"I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks," the Phoenix Mercury star said. "I felt like leaving here so badly."

She said she decided not to do it because she was afraid the Russian authorities would not release her body to her family.

Griner said that before she was released in an exchange with convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, she was forced to write a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This image released by ABC News shows Robin Roberts, left, during an interview with Brittney Griner. (Michael Le Brecht II/ABC News via AP)

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