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A White House Prisoner Dilemma

As another American is arrested in Russia, giving Putin more leverage for prisoner swaps, Biden officials are growing frustrated that some see a U.S. passport as a get-out-of-jail-free card. And Robert Woodland—now Robert Woodland Romanov—is no Brittney Griner.

American officials are privately frustrated by the view, held by Russia, that the U.S. government will do absolutely anything to bring American hostages home, no matter what they’ve done and no matter where they are in the world.
American officials are privately frustrated by the view, held by Russia, that the U.S. government will do absolutely anything to bring American hostages home, no matter what they’ve done and no matter where they are in the world. Photo: Contributor/Getty Images
Julia Ioffe
January 24, 2024

Shortly after the New Year, as Russia lay hibernating during the customary break between January 1 and the Old New Year (by the old Russian calendar), an American was arrested outside of Moscow on drug charges. If the case of Robert Woodland sounds familiar, that’s because around this time two years ago, we were talking about Brittney Griner’s detention for a similar offense. But there are key distinctions, not least of which is that Woodland is not a celebrity athlete. His case, however, is part of a bigger trend of Americans accumulating in Russian jails—and what the Biden administration is doing about it.