Russian court rejects Griner appeal of her 9-year sentenceMOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.Griner’s lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said in an email that they were “very disappointed” with the decision because they still believe “the punishment is excessive and contradicts to the existing court practice.”“Britthey’s biggest fear is that she is not exchanged and will have to serve the whole sentence in Russia,” they said.U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that Biden “is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home.”WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the decision “while unfortunate, was not unexpected.Blinken didn’t elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the “merchant of death.”The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer.One of them is Alexander Vinnik, who was accused of laundering billions of dollars through an illicit cryptocurrency exchange."