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- prisoners sew uniforms for the Russian army and police & getting injured bc of the outdated equipment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.”

The Orlando Pride are league champions for the first time, defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0 on Saturday to become just the second-ever team to earn both the Shield and the NWSL Championship in a single season.

The Pride's star striker Barbra Banda picked up Championship MVP honors after scoring the match's lone goal, a sneaky strike that just slipped past Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury in the 37th minute. With that goal, Banda set a new league postseason scoring record, finding the back of the net four times in the 2024 NWSL Playoffs.

Strong defense secured Orlando's title

Saturday's final was a cagey affair, with Orlando's backline holding strong in the face of the Spirit's seeming momentum, which they harnessed for long stretches of the match.

In total, Washington registered 26 shots to Orlando's nine, but the Pride's strong defensive performance held the Spirit to just five shots on goal and limited USWNT star Trinity Rodman's attacking power.

"It's no secret that I was fighting through back issues pretty much since I got back from the Olympics," Rodman said after the game. "That's not an excuse, but I wasn't the Trin that I wanted to be today."

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A long-awaited NWSL Championship for Marta

The win ends a long drought for Brazil legend and Pride captain Marta, who saw her club through many ups and downs since her 2017 signing — the last year the team made the NWSL Playoffs prior to 2024.

"I f---ing waited eight years for this moment!," the 38-year-old icon exclaimed during the live trophy ceremony on CBS after the Pride's victory.

Those eight years were often a slog for the Florida club, who spent the bulk of them at or near the bottom of the league's standings. An improved 2023 left Pride fans hopeful, but Orlando just missed the postseason cutoff on the final day of the regular season.

This season, a shift in mentality and a Coach of the Year-winning showing from boss Seb Hines flipped the script in Orlando, where with the Pride put together a 23-match undefeated run and ultimately logged just two losses in NWSL play.

For Marta, the 2024 NWSL Championship proved her long dedication to the Pride was not in vain.

"It's like the answer that I'm trying to have," the Orlando captain told media before the game. "Many, many, many years here — [that's] why I'm still here."

Prior to Saturday's 2024 NWSL Championship game, commissioner Jessica Berman updated the media on the league's 2026 expansion plan.

With Boston already set to field the league's 15th team when the 2026 season kick off, the NWSL spent much of 2024 whittling applicant cities down to three finalists, with either Denver, Cleveland, or Cincinnati to be awarded the league's 16th franchise.

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Clark joins Cincinnati expansion group

One of the final trio of markets added a big name to their roster last week, with Cincinnati confirming that 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark has bought into the ownership group vying to bring the NWSL to southwest Ohio.

"Her passion for the sport, commitment to elevating women’s sports in and around the Greater Cincinnati region, and influence as an athlete and role model for women and girls around the world make her a vital part of our compelling bid to become the 16th team in the NWSL," the group said of its latest investor.

Ohio cities lead 2026 NWSL expansion bids

Besides their new superstar investor, Cincinnati has a leg up on the competition due to the city's existing soccer infrastructure. With MLS team FC Cincinnati's ownership leading the bid for an NWSL team, the market has both soccer ownership experience and a stadium built for the sport, all ready to welcome a women's club.

Meanwhile, the ownership groups in Cleveland and Denver both aim to construct soccer stadiums while their team would initially compete in temporary venues.

Of the two, Cleveland likely has the best shot at challenging fellow Ohio city Cincinnati. The state's northeast stronghold has already procured prime downtown land with the intention of breaking ground on an NWSL stadium.

Whichever market ultimately snags the league's 16th team must prepare to ante up top dollar, as the next expansion fee could near $100 million. Boston, along with 2024 expansion club Bay FC, both cut $53 million checks to enter the league, and the NWSL has continued to see soaring valuations since the pair's 2023 invitations.

Welcome back to Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie!

Fast Friends brought the party to Kansas City on Thursday, as co-hosts Lisa Leslie and Kelley O'Hara, plus a roster of superstar guests, kicked off the 2024 NWSL Championship Weekend​ in style.

Retirement, goal cellies, NWSL title predictions, and more dominated conversation as league heavy-hitters Ali Riley, Merritt Mathias, Lo’eau LaBonta, and Kate del Fava — plus reps from each of the two championship contenders, Orlando's Carson Pickett and Washington's Croix Bethune and Ashley Hatch — took to the stage in front of a live audience.

The intrepid hosts also recapped the NWSL semifinals, including a mixup that saw Leslie texting O'Hara at exactly the wrong moment.

"I didn't really understand that they were going to add more time to the clock," Leslie explained, referencing her confusion over Washington's stoppage-time equalizer against O'Hara's Gotham FC.

"I got a text that was like, 'LETS GO!,'" laughed O'Hara. "And I'm like, 'Is she cheering for the Spirit?'"

About Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie

Coming off the success of JWS's Olympic commentary show The Gold Standard, Fast Friends features two legendary athletes serving up insider insights and unique takes on the biggest stories in women's sports every week.

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

Marta — the Brazilian footballing legend and eight-year Orlando Pride veteran — has played in big games before. An icon of the sport for decades, she's taken the field in front of massive crowds, appeared in multiple World Cups, stood on Olympic podiums, and won numerous individual and team awards for both club and country.

But Saturday's NWSL Championship game against the Washington Spirit feels different, she told reporters ahead of the event. And at 38, it's one of the most significant moments in her career.

"Number one," she replied immediately when asked where winning an NWSL title would rank in her mind should Orlando pull off the difficult task of winning both the Shield and the Championship in the same year. 

"It's like the answer that I'm trying to have," she said, shooting a finger into the air to emphasize her point. "Many, many, many years here — [that's] why I'm still here."

Marta has been on superteams before, dominating Sweden's top league for years with Tyreso and FC Rosengard after winning WPS Championships in 2010 and 2011 with FC Gold Pride and the Western New York Flash. She's also seen incredible success at the international level with Brazil, putting the USWNT and the entire world on notice during the 2007 World Cup before a second-place finish.

Having announced her retirement from international play last spring, the three-time Olympic silver medalist's days of putting on the Brazil jersey for a major tournament are likely over. But picking up a trophy with Orlando would serve as the ultimate reward after a long journey with a club that for many years did not look even close to competing at a championship level.

"To look back and then see how many [things] we need to work for, to build this team, be strong," she continued. "And then how many things we go through [to] have a season without losing any games at home, break their many records. It's special."

Starting from the bottom

Marta joined the NWSL in 2017, signing with the Pride and going on to lead Orlando to its last NWSL Playoffs appearance that same year. In the years that followed, the Pride became synonymous with competitive futility, evolving into a place of transition for superstars like Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris, and Ali Krieger who left after failing to lift the team out of the bottom of the league standings.

And yet Marta remained. And with the permanent addition of head coach Seb Hines in 2022 alongside astute signings by general manager Haley Carter, the Pride's perception of themselves and their ability to climb the table began to shift.

In 2023, Orlando had one singular goal: Make the playoffs. It was a milestone they didn't achieve after a chaotic regular-season decision day saw the Pride fall just short of the postseason contention. 

Then in 2024, Hines took a new approach. And Orlando has seen the dividends of keeping things simple pay off in droves.

"We started this season with a really different mentality," said Marta. "We need to have goals, not only one, but step by step, and we're looking for something big. Of course, our first goal was being in the playoffs. Then after that, win the Shield, and then being in this Final, and then win the Championship." 

The Pride rattled off 23 consecutive games to start the 2024 regular season without a loss, culminating in their first-ever NWSL Shield earned in a 2-0 win over eventual Championship opponent Washington. 

"It's unbelievable," Marta said after that pivotal match. "Something that I, wow, I dreamed about, but to be honest, never believed that it was going to happen the way that it did."

A cherished presence on the field and off

Orlando has one more game left in 2024, and Marta is keenly aware that the team has to maintain their step-by-step mentality and keep the emotions at bay for just 90 more minutes. She also hasn't shied away from this possibly being her last opportunity to win the league's greatest honor.

Playing alongside powerhouse attackers like Zambian striker Barbra Banda and elite midfielders like fellow Brazil national Adriana has rejuvenated Marta's style, with the seasoned veteran looking like her vintage self week in and week out this season. But the legend is much closer to the end of her career than the beginning, and she carries the hard-earned perspective of a player that has lived many lives in pursuit of her dreams.

"It's something that I appreciate and I cherish," Banda — an MVP candidate in her own right — said on Thursday. "Because it's someone I've been looking up to far away, but now she's closer to me. I'm able to get encouragement from her, I'm able to get the ideas that I want. So, yeah, it is an achievement."

The Pride's easy-going locker room culture has translated into joy on the pitch — both a product of captain Marta, who held court with the media on Thursday in Kansas City. Surrounded by a near-constant scrum of reporters, the football icon regaled reporters with stories about everything from post-game dust-ups to her bold lipstick choices.

When asked what advice she'd give teammates facing the biggest game of their careers, Marta focused on the bigger picture. "Enjoy the opportunity, you know, enjoy the moment," she said. "Because we don't know what is gonna happen next step, next year. We don't know if every single player who we have in the roster here will be in the next year."

"The moment don't come back," she added. "So you need to just enjoy, and then do your best to go as far we can."

For Marta, the moment has arrived

This evening's moment is expected to culminate in an incredible clashing of styles, as a young counter-attacking Washington Spirit side looks to upset the dominant, methodical Pride, therein denying one of the game's all-time greats her full-circle moment. Marta's teammates have been open about their desire to finish strong on her behalf, a sentiment she waves off in favor of fighting for her whole team. And it will take every single one of her teammates to unlock the happy ending so many didn't expect they'd reach so soon.

After years of showing up for the Pride, the team has answered Marta's efforts back in full. And whether or not they return to Orlando with a trophy in hand, the NWSL Championship will serve as a punctuation to an iconic career. The memory of Marta dancing through defenders before slotting the ball in the back of the net in this year's semifinal match has no expiration date — an image she intends to hold onto far beyond this weekend.

"When I celebrate a goal with Brazil, and celebrate the last goal that I did with the Pride, it was the same," Marta said. "I saw the picture and say, 'Yeah, nothing changed.' I have passion for this game, and that's why I still play."