Arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange with US citizen Britney Griner, praised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said it should have happened sooner, according to state television.
In an interview with Russian propaganda agency Russia Today (RT), Bout said “anyone Russian” should have authorized Russia’s “special military operation” and would have taken part in the fighting if possible. rice field.
“To be honest, I didn’t even understand why we didn’t do it sooner,” he said on RT on Saturday. ‘Russia, Russia, Russia!’ And so in Donbass and Odessa.”
Victor Bout sits at the Bangkok Supreme Court detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, July 28, 2008.
(Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images)
“Yes, obviously the terms weren’t right and I wasn’t ready, but I would have wholeheartedly supported it.”
Britney Greiner is back in the US after the Biden administration’s controversial prisoner swap
Bout later told presenter Maria Butina that he would have taken part in the fight as a volunteer “given the opportunity and the necessary skills.” A soldier died in battle.
Russian losses include about 6,000 armored personnel carriers, about 3,000 tanks, and about 2,000 artillery systems.
Viktor Bout, a former Soviet military officer and suspected arms trafficker, at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, November 16, 2010.
(U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images)
Who Is Russian ‘Merchant Of Death’ Victor Bout Freed In Britney Greiner’s Prisoner Exchange?
In the same interview, Bout said Western powers, including the United States, were trying to “destroy” and “divide” Russia.
According to the Moscow Times, “The West believes they didn’t finish us in 1990 when the Soviet Union began to collapse. They think they can destroy us again and divide Russia.”
As for Griner, Bout said he wished her luck after a prisoner exchange in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, December 9.
“Again, it’s our tradition. We should wish everyone good luck and happiness,” he added to Reuters.
Russian state TV teases US over Britney Greiner prisoner swap
On October 5, 2010, Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout arrives at the Criminal Court in Bangkok.
(NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Russian, dubbed the “Merchant of Death,” had previously been convicted of arms trafficking, conspiring to murder an American, and money laundering.
Griner was convicted by a Russian court of possessing e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis oil in a country where cannabis is banned.
