After news of Alexei Navalny's death, it's impossible not to think of Brittney Griner

Alexei Navalny, the most prominent critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, died in an Arctic penal colony, the Russian prison service stated. When hearing this news another person immediately came to mind: Brittney Griner.

Griner was released from a Russian penal colony on Dec. 8 after being held by the Russians for 10 months. The two-time Olympian was originally detained at a Moscow airport after officials discovered vape cartridges and hash oil in her luggage. Russia has some of the most severe drug laws in the world though the detaining of Griner was likely less about the drug laws and more about something else. More on that in a moment.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. She appealed and lost and thus her odyssey began ending only after a prisoner swap involving arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The situations between Navalny and Griner are of course different. Navalny is dead because he was a Putin critic and he will be remembered as one of the greatest freedom fighters of our time.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news-alexei-navalnys-death-impossible-122924883.html