- Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout said he would “definitely” volunteer to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
- Bout is newly free after being traded for Brittney Griner, who was held in Moscow for nine months.
- Bout was imprisoned in the United States with a 25-year sentence for conspiracy with a terrorist organization.
Newly freed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout said he “wholeheartedly” supported Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, adding he would “definitely go as a volunteer” if given the chance. according to information.
“If I could, I would share my skills and gladly volunteer,” Bout told Russian state broadcaster RT, formerly known as Russia Today.
Bout’s freedom was secured in a prisoner swap for Brittney Griner, a WNBA star who was arrested in February in Moscow on drug charges and later sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. US and Russian officials agreed to the one-for-one swap last week, Insider previously reported.
Bout was arrested by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency in 2008 in a drug sting, extradited to the United States, convicted of conspiracy with a terrorist organization and conspiracy to kill American civilians and officials, and sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to a previous Insider report.
While in jail, he said he had a portrait of Russian President Putin displayed in his cell, according to CNN.
“Yes, always,” Bout said in an interview with RT, per CNN. “Why not? I’m proud to be Russian and that our president is Putin.”
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