Russian media attribute Pitun’s victory for release of Bout
2022.12.09 03:25
Russian media attribute Pitun’s victory for release of Bout
Budrigannews.com – Friday, the Russian state media praised President Vladimir Putin for “winning” a prisoner exchange with the United States by exchanging a U.S. basketball player for the “merchant of death,” one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.
After Russia and the United States exchanged the arms dealer for American basketball star Brittney Griner at the Abu Dhabi airport, Bout arrived in Moscow late on Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Justice called Bout one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world. He sold weapons to terrorists and enemies of the United States for decades, but he always denied the charges.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration carried out an elaborate sting operation in a posh Bangkok hotel before capturing him. In 2012, a Manhattan court found Moscow guilty and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Moscow had always maintained that he was innocent.
On the tarmac of Moscow’s Vnukovo airport just as Bout landed, a lawmaker in the lower house of the Russian parliament named Maria Butina told state television, “It is a capitulation by America.”
As Bout stepped back onto Russian soil, Butina said, “It shows that Russia doesn’t abandon its own while America has shown its defeat.” She was standing next to Bout’s mother and wife, who were hugging him. He was not forgotten by Russia.
Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout, is played by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 Hollywood film “Lord of War.” Bout’s life reads like a spy thriller because of his notoriety.
Although he has been linked to Russian military intelligence (GRU), which has always made a big deal of its reputation for never forgiving traitors and never abandoning its people no matter what the cost, little is known publicly about his early life.
A video montage with the caption “And so 14 years!” was shared by Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry. in reference to Bout’s 14 years in prison.
The montage featured old footage of Zakharova, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and other high-ranking diplomats saying “Viktor Bout.”
The foreign ministry stated, “Washington vehemently refused to engage in dialogue on the inclusion of the Russian in the exchange scheme.” However, the Russian Federation continued to actively work toward our compatriot’s rescue.”
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Bout’s return was welcomed by the Wagner Group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“Well done to Viktor Bout. And I am very pleased for him,” Prigozhin, a Putin ally, stated.
The Biden administration was criticized by some American Republicans for making the swap.
“What a “stupid” and unpatriotic embarrassment for the United States of America!!!” On social media, former President Donald Trump wrote.
Trump questioned why Griner was exchanged for one of the largest arms dealers in the world and why Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine currently serving a 16-year espionage sentence in a Russian penal colony, was not included in the exchange.
Whelan, who holds American, English, Canadian and Irish travel papers, was condemned in 2020 to 16 years in prison subsequent to being sentenced for spying. Russia claimed that he was found with classified information in a Moscow hotel room on December 28, 2018, when he was detained by Federal Security Service agents. He rejects that he committed secret activities.
Margarita Simonyan, proofreader in-head of state-financed RT, said the trade showed that Russia “will win” in the end since Washington had decided to leave a sentenced U.S. spy in prison in Russia.
