For nearly two decades, Viktor Bout has been supplying arms to rebels and rogue states around the world. The former Soviet officer has been in prison in the United States for his crimes since 2010. Moscow still hopes to get him free against jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner.
After the transfer of US basketball player Brittney Griner to a remote penal camp, Moscow is confirming its hopes for a possible prisoner exchange with the United States. The release of the former Soviet officer Viktor Bout (Russian: But) is also being discussed, said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Moscow. Bout is imprisoned in the US for arms trafficking and is also known internationally as the “Dealer of Death”. In return, the United States presumably expects the US basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been convicted and imprisoned in Russia for drug possession, to be released.
“We haven’t come to a common denominator yet, but it is undisputed that Bout is one of those people who are being talked about,” Ryabkov said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “And of course we hope for a positive result.”
Despite the strained relationship between Washington and Moscow, there have been contacts for months about an exchange of prisoners. According to US media reports, this was also an issue when the head of the US CIA, William Burns, and his Russian counterpart Sergey Naryshkin met in Istanbul in mid-November.
Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession in Russia. The two-time Olympic champion was recently transferred to a remote penal colony on the Volga – around 500 kilometers south-east of Moscow in the Mordovia region. It is also about US citizen Paul Wheelan, who is being held in custody in Russia for alleged espionage. The US and Russia on August 5 said they were ready to discuss a prisoner swap, a day after Griner was convicted by a Russian court.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bout was considered one of the most notorious arms dealers in the world. For almost two decades, illegally sold weapons and other armaments to so-called rogue states, rebel groups and regional warlords in Africa, Asia and South America. Because he was a master at evading sanctions, he was nicknamed “dealer of death” and “sanction buster”.
In 2008, the 55-year-old was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, in connection with several arms trafficking offenses and extradited to the United States in 2010. In 2012, a Manhattan court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. His life served as inspiration for the 2005 Hollywood film Lord of War, in which Nicolas Cage plays arms dealer Yuri Orlov.
