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WNBA players competing in Russian league 'are scrambling to escape to the US aboard dwindling number of flights' after others left Ukraine: Ex-NBA guard Shabazz Napier 'returns to US from his club in Saint Petersburg'

American professional basketball players competing in Russia during the WNBA offseason are scrambling to return to the United States following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

As several player agents told ESPN, many WNBA players in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League are making plans to leave the country for the US due to safety concerns. The problem, as one agent explained, is finding plane tickets as other countries freeze Russian flights out of their air spaces.

'For me, it's way past 'considering'' leaving,' longtime agent Mike Cound told ESPN.