Legendary Viktor Bout returned to Russia after 20 years of imprisonment in the US
2022.12.08 08:35
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Legendary Viktor Bout returned to Russia after 20 years of imprisonment in the US
Budrigannews.com – According to officials from both the United States and Russia, the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is currently in custody in the United States, was exchanged for the release of American basketball star Brittney Griner from jail in Russia on Thursday.
Some important information about Bout:
During his time as an international weapons dealer, he rose to prominence and was dubbed “the Merchant of Death” in a 2007 biography. He became well-known for his willingness to arm almost anyone, including the Taliban, the brutal Liberian regime of Charles Taylor, and Sierra Leonean militias. The 2005 film starring Nicholas Cage titled “Lord of War” was influenced by his life.
Bout is said to have been born in 1967 in Dushanbe, Soviet Tajikistan. He is said to be fluent in several languages and to have worked as a military translator for the Soviet army, including in Angola. He has said he gone to a Moscow language organization that fills in as a preparation ground for military knowledge officials.
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He was able to profit from a glut of inexpensive Soviet-made weapons that could be sold to customers in Africa, Asia, and South America following the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991. He used a fleet of planes from the Soviet era to supply weapons to insurgencies, warlords, and rogue states worldwide from the United Arab Emirates.
– In 2008, Bout was captured in Thailand by U.S. agents following a sting operation in which they recorded him offering to sell missiles to individuals he believed to be leftist Colombian guerrillas.
A U.S. court handed him a 25-year prison sentence in 2012 for a number of charges connected to his career in the arms trade. Russia has always claimed his innocence, describing his case as an egregious injustice, and has attempted to get him out of jail.
