The jet and the balloon in question. Image source: REUTERS, Randall Hill
For the last several days, a suspected Chinese spy balloon was seen drifting across the U.S. coast. The balloon was shot down by U.S. fighter jets this afternoon.
Flights halted in the process but resumed shortly after. “We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” President Joe Biden said.
The Size Of The Chinese Spy Balloon
The F-22 fighter jet shot down the balloon, allegedly the size of three school buses, with a single missile around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
President Joe Biden Requested To Not Shot Down The Balloon Earlier This Week
Per the president’s request, the military didn’t shoot down the balloon earlier this week. The Pentagon recommended waiting for the object to drift over open water. Pentagon planned it this way to protect civilians from debris.
No One Faced Injuries In The Process
According to a defense official, no one, including military personnel, commercial airplanes, or maritime vessels, faced injuries.
Potential Key Elements Found Among Debris?
Another senior U.S. military official said it took only one AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile to destroy the balloon.
The jet shot the spy balloon down around six nautical miles off the U.S. coast. Officials said they hoped to recover key elements of the foreign surveillance equipment among the debris shortly.
A couple of F-22 raptors were circling the balloon before it turned into a poof of smoke. It likely landed in the Atlantic Ocean, drifting down from tens of thousands of feet.
The government had to halt flights in and out of South Carolina airports — including Wilmington, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston. The jet shot the balloon down shortly after, but before this event, individuals also got notifications of a “national security effort.” The flights then carried on Saturday afternoon.
Since February 17, 32-year-old WNBA star, Brittney Griner, stayed detained in Russia’s prison found guilty in relation to drug charges. In Russia, cannabis is illegal, and Griner was found with a cannabis oil vape cartridge and is sentenced to 9 years.
In October she had an appeal, but it was denied.
For months, U.S. Officials have been in constant contact with Russia with hopes of any negotiation, but they would not comply. That is until Thursday Government officials and sources interviewed Griner to learn about her time in Russia.
Negotiation
Putting an offer on the table, the United States, bargains with Russia for WNBA star and former marine Paul Whelan, who’s been in Russian custody due to espionage charges for four years. The U.S. offers convicted arms merchant Viktor Bout, serving 12 years into a 25-year sentence.
“We have been raising Paul Whelan’s case with the Russians since the earliest days of this administration,” one senior administration official said during a background briefing.
On Thursday, a White House official told ESPN, at one point the United States offered a trade involving Bout for Whelan, who is serving his remaining sentence – 12 years. Unfortunately, Russia declined to trade Whelan due to being on a condition of anonymity, according to several administration officials.
During negotiation, officials generally spoke about what sort of prisoners they were willing to exchange. Russian officials said they considered Whelan to be a type of “different class” prisoner aside from Griner or Bout. Nonetheless, Russia has not offered any counterproposal involving Whelan.
After the Nov. 8 midterm, U.S. officials focused on negotiation with Russia but at the time they did not comply. Instead, Griner transferred from Moscow, where she had been since February, to a penal colony.
As Griner’s family, friends and officials feared for her transition, one of Griner’s two Russian lawyers, said her client’s life in the IK-2 prison wasn’t as bad as it might have been. “She had honestly no complaints,” Blagovolina said. “Things could have been much worse.”
Compared to what Griner could have been assigned to do in IK-2, she liked her job. During the day women work sewing uniforms, but for Griner, it was not suitable. Her hands were too large to carry on the work and is too tall to sit at the worktables. Alternatively, she carried fabric all day, that is until she recently had the flu and shocked fans, on Thursday, with a decision she made.
Blagovolina said Griner cut her hair two Sundays ago and told her attorneys she planned to do it to make the Russian winter bearable. Griner clearly began preparing for a long journey ahead of herself.
Preparing to Return home
Over the past few weeks, administration officials said, Russia has proposed, in accordance to doing a one-for-one trade – Griner for Bout. U.S. officials understand that Whelan is out of this deal and would remain in Russia for the time being.
President Biden sealed the deal, and the administration went to visit Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, in person and let her be aware of the negotiation.
According to Blagovolina, on Monday Griner had been moved to a Moscow jail and for the next few days, “complete silence,” she said. “It was kind of stressful. We were worried about her — she didn’t have her glasses; she broke her glasses, and we didn’t know if she was getting food.”
Thursday morning, the word came that she would be heading home.
“I’m glad to be able to say that Brittney is in good spirits. She’s relieved to finally be heading home and the fact remains that she’s lost months of her life [and] experienced needless trauma. She deserves space, privacy, and time with their loved ones to recover and heal from her time being wrongfully detained,” said President Biden.
As Griner’s life finally comes off a pause she now can take time and space to recover. She is reuniting with her parents and wife in San Antonio, Texas. Griner is to stay in Brooke Army Medical Center for observation. She will also have access to mental health resources from the WNBA.
