Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who was returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange with US citizen Brittney Griner, has praised his country’s invasion of Ukraine and said it should have happened sooner, according to the state television.
During an interview with Russia’s propaganda outlet Russia Today (RT), Bout said “any Russian person” should approve of Russia’s “special military operation” and that he would join the fighting if he could.
“To be honest, I couldn’t even figure out why we didn’t do it sooner,” he said on RT on Saturday. “Because in 2014, you know, there were demonstrations in Kharkiv, people were wearing huge tricolors and shouting: ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’, even in the Donbas and in Odessa, you know!”
Viktor Bout sits inside a detention cell at the Bangkok Supreme Court on July 28, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
(Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images)
He added: “Yes, clearly the conditions weren’t right and we weren’t ready, but I would have supported wholeheartedly.”
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Bout later told anchor Maria Butina that if he “had the opportunity and the necessary skills” he “would go” to join the fighting as a volunteer. According to the Ukrainian government, some 94,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the fighting since 11 December.
Russian losses include nearly 6,000 armored vehicles, nearly 3,000 tanks and nearly 2,000 artillery systems.
Former Soviet military officer and gun trafficking suspect Viktor Bout at the Westchester County Airport November 16, 2010, in White Plains, New York.
(US Department of Justice via Getty Images)
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During the same interview, Bout said that Western countries, including the United States, are trying to “destroy” and “divide” Russia.
“The West believes they weren’t done with us in 1990 when the Soviet Union started to disintegrate… They think they can just destroy us again and divide Russia,” he said, according to the Moscow Times.
As for Griner, Bout said he “wished her luck” after the prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Both were returned to their respective countries within 24 hours.
“Again, it’s our tradition. You should wish everyone good luck and happiness,” he added, per Reuters.
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Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout arrives before a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010.
(NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Russian, dubbed the “merchant of death,” has previously been convicted of arms trafficking, conspiracy to kill Americans and money laundering.
Griner was convicted by a Russian court of transporting vape cartridges containing cannabis oil to Russia, where cannabis is banned.
