WNBA star Brittney Griner faces “slave-like” conditions in the Russian penal colony where she was moved earlier this month, Russian activist and former prisoner Nadya Tolokonnikova said in interview with MSNBC.

Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the Russian feminist protest art collective Pussy Riot, served two years in a penal colony less than four miles from the one where Griner is imprisoned in the Mordovia region of Russia.

Griner has been detained in Russia since February on drug possession charges. She was convicted in August in a trial U.S. officials and international legal experts have called a sham, and the U.S. government considers her wrongfully detained.

The 32-year-old Phoenix Mercury center was sentenced to nine years in one of Russia’s penal colonies, which are notorious for their harsh conditions and abusive treatment of prisoners. In early November, she was transferred to the IK-2 colony in the town of Yavas.

“I’m terrified that Brittney Griner was moved to IK-2,” Tolokonnikova said. “It’s one of the harshest colonies — it is literally the harshest colony in the whole Russian prison system.”

Brittney Griner was transported to IK-2 Mordovia, the WORST penal colony in Russia.

- 16 hours work days
- prisoners sew uniforms for the Russian army and police & getting injured bc of the outdated equipment
- beatings x torture are common
- medical care practically not exist pic.twitter.com/GvXjAOFPAf

— 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖞 𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙💦 (@pussyrrriot) November 22, 2022

From her own experience and her conversations with others who have been imprisoned in IK-2 and other colonies, Tolokonnikova described to MSNBC what Griner likely will encounter during her imprisonment.

“Prisoners in IK2 work in slave-like conditions,” she said. “They’re forced to work up to 17 hours a day, with no days off… And if you do not perform the quota, then you’re going to be punished. And that includes torture.”

If she could give Griner advice, Tolokonnikova said, she would tell her to avoid the “horrific” conditions in the sweatshops where prisoners work and instead to choose solitary confinement.

“Being in solitary confinement is better than working on a daily basis in aggressive, slave-like labor conditions,” she said.

While a Russian official indicated Friday that the country would be open to a prisoner swap to free detained WNBA star Brittney Griner, the U.S. State Department said Russia still refuses to “seriously negotiate,” ESPN’s T.J. Quinn reported Friday.

The Biden administration is seeking a deal to free Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan, from the country.

“We have made a substantial offer that the Russian Federation has consistently failed to negotiate in good faith,” the State Department said. “The U.S. government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with the Russian government.

“The Russian government’s failure to seriously negotiate on these issues in the established channel, or any other channel for that matter, runs counter to its public statements.”

Women's tennis got a boost on Wednesday, as the WTA announced it would institute rankings pauses for players who step away from competition to undergo fertility protection treatments like egg or embryo freezing.

Players returning from a procedure can opt to receive a Special Entry Ranking, calculated using their 12-week average ranking starting from eight weeks before taking leave.

Players can use that unique ranking to enter up to three tournaments at the WTA 500, 250, or 125 levels before the governing body will again institute traditional calculations.

The protection extends to any player ranked among the world's top 750 who spends more than 10 weeks out of competition.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

These latest rankings protection further secures the careers of tennis pro parents, who first earned special rankings in the 2019 WTA season after Serena Willams and Victoria Azarenka saw their seedings plummet simply from stepping away from competition to give birth.

The move also comes three months after the WTA agreed to grant players paid maternity leave for the very first time.

"I'm incredibly proud of our sport in recognizing the importance of fertility treatments for female athletes," said 2017 US Open champ and longtime reproductive health support advocate Sloane Stephens. "For any woman, the conversation of family life versus a career is nuanced and complex."

"It's truly ground-breaking and will empower this generation, and future generations of players, to continue with the sport they love without having to compromise."

Last week's landmark $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement is back in the headlines, as eight women's college sports athletes filed an appeal on Wednesday claiming that the approved NIL back-payment plan violates Title IX, the federal law banning gender discrimination in schools.

On June 6th, a federal judge approved a settlement between the NCAA and former student-athletes, with the college sports governing body agreeing to have schools directly distribute billions of dollars in back pay to players barred from financially benefitting off their name, image, and likeness since 2016.

Wednesday's appeal to that back-pay plan calls out alleged payment inequities written into the settlement ruling, which could see up to 90% of the $2.8 billion distributed to former NCAA men's sports athletes.

"The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion," said Ashlyn Hare, one of the lawyers representing the appellants. "Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports."

"If Nike wants to [pay male athletes more], that is their choice. If the school, or a conference acting on the school's behalf tries to do that, they are violating the law," John Clune, another lawyer on the team, clarified.

"They can either pay the athletes proportionately, or they can return all of their federal funds," said Clune. "But they can't do both."

With the USWNT back in action for the next set of summer friendlies later this month, head coach Emma Hayes filled ESPN in on her roster strategy earlier this week.

Hayes will rest all Europe-based US players during the upcoming international window, instead relying on domestic talent following a jam-packed year for the team's European stars.

"We don't necessarily decide the international calendar, but this is one where we think it's in the best interest of the players," Hayes said, noting both past demands and the increasingly busy road to the 2027 World Cup.

With player welfare and recovery top-of-mind, the lone exception to Hayes's European omissions is Chelsea FC defender Naomi Girma, who made her 2025 USWNT debut on May 31st.

The US manager is seeking more minutes for the star center back after Girma spent much of the year recovering from a calf injury.

Hayes also revealed some key updates on other injured players, with fans eager to see midfielder Rose Lavelle and forward Trinity Rodman return to the USWNT fold.

After a lengthy recovery from ankle surgery, Lavelle — who made her first NWSL appearance of 2025 in Gotham FC's 2-1 loss to Kansas City last Saturday — could return to international play this month.

Rodman remains slightly further out from returning to the USWNT roster, with Hayes saying she expects the Spirit forward to begin seeing club minutes sometime next month.

The USWNT core is coming together, with Stateside players looking to seize the chance to prove their worth as club soccer approaches its summer hiatus.

The NWSL is locking in its summer calendar, as teams across the league announce special July friendlies ahead of the regular-season break for major global tournaments.

Without a planned league-wide tournament like 2024's NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, its up to individual clubs to fill their schedules until NWSL play resumes in August.

While there might not be a trophy at the end, the gap does provide an opportunity for some fresh friendly competition beyond the confines of the league.

The North Carolina Courage will welcome Liga MX titans and Concacaf W Champions Cup contenders Tigres UANL back to the States for a one-off exhibition match on July 9th.

Then on July 12th, Kansas City will kick off its Teal Rising Cup, a four-team friendly tournament pitting the NWSL's Current and Chicago Stars against Brazil's Série A1 clubs Corinthians and Palmeiras.

Late July will see both the Seattle Reign and Bay FC square off against Japan's WE League champions the Urawa Red Diamonds, with Bay tacking on an additional July 19th friendly against Angel City.

The USL Super League is also getting in on the summer interleague action, with the NWSL's Angel City facing the Carolina Ascent on July 26th after Racing Louisville hosts crosstown USL squad Lexington SC on July 13th — giving fans a glimpse at how the two US systems stack up against one another.

As teams juggle lineups in the wake of summer international departures, these July friendlies may feature decidedly different rosters than regular-season play — though hungry NWSL fans likely won't mind.