US embassy officials visit jailed WNBA star after appeal rejected

Officials at the US Embassy in Moscow visited jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner yesterday, more than a week after a Russian court rejected her appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug possession. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet that the American representatives ‘‘saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances.’’ Price said the Biden administration is continuing to press for the immediate release of Griner and Paul Whelan, who was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are bogus, and for ‘‘fair treatment for every detained American.’’