Stashed away in a federal penitentiary deep in the bowels of Illinois sits a notorious Russian arms dealer named Viktor Bout, a man the Biden administration is rumored to be eyeing as a bargaining chip to procure the release of two American prisoners.
Bout has gone by many names over the years, such as the “Merchant of Death” and “Sanctions Buster” — titles he earned for his alleged ruthless and savvy arms dealing from Eastern Europe into Africa and the Middle East following the collapse of the Soviet Union. His black market exploits inspired the Nicolas Cage flick Lord of War and ultimately led to his arrest in 2008 for conspiring to kill Americans.
US MAKES ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPOSAL’ TO RUSSIA FOR GRINER AND WHELAN’S RELEASE
“All that remains is for the U.S. government to have the courage to admit the obvious — get what we can for Viktor Bout,” Bout’s lawyer Steve Zissou said, per the Washington Post. “The alternative should be obvious — no Americans will be exchanged unless Viktor Bout is sent home along with them.”
The Kremlin has long called for Bout’s release since he was first detained by authorities in Thailand back in 2008 upon the request of the United States. And now, there are two U.S. nationals being held in Russia, Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, whom the Biden administration has been keen to set free.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. offered a “significant proposal” for their release — a proposition CNN reported to be Bout’s release in a prisoner swap, as had long been rumored.
Bout got his start in the Soviet Armed Forces sometime before its collapse and became proficient in at least six languages, including Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Persian, and Russian. He served as a translator and held the rank of lieutenant during his time in the military, according to his website. He is believed to have been discharged from the military around the fall of the USSR.
This is when he began his air transport business, in which he delivered people and goods on behalf of foreign governments. U.S. officials allege that he moved weapons into conflict zones across the globe, including in bloody hot spots such as Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.
Bout gained recognition among clientele for his ability to transport illicit arms into war-torn parts of Africa in violation of U.N. embargoes, per the Economist. A former government once described him as the “Donald Trump or Bill Gates” of arms trafficking, according to a 2002 Los Angeles Times profile on him.
“Viktor Bout has been international arms trafficking enemy number one for many years, arming some of the most violent conflicts around the globe,” Preet Bharara, the then U.S. attorney in Manhattan who prosecuted the charges against Bout, declared in 2012, according to CNN.
The so-called Sanctions Buster has denied these allegations against him.
“Victor Bout is reported to be the largest arms dealer in the world for more than 10 years now; however, nobody during all of these years was able to show evidence to support this allegation or to bring charges against Victor,” his website says.
International authorities struggled to apprehend Bout for many years due to his frequent practice of reregistering aircraft and forging documents, per the Economist. Officials have so far reportedly refrained from charging him using some of the most striking accusations over his dealings in Africa because the paper trail is so thin.
Eventually, a red notice request from the U.S. caught up to him while he was in Thailand. Authorities accused him of providing “material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization” and noted that he was suspected of arming the Taliban and al Qaeda in a press release about his arrest. Bout has flatly denied arming either, CNN reported.
Following his arrest, he was extradited to the U.S. despite protests from the Russian government. He then stood trial and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 for charges of conspiring to kill Americans, distributing anti-aircraft missiles, and aiding designated terrorist organizations. An appeals court subsequently upheld his conviction
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
After all these years, the Kremlin views Bout as “really important for military intelligence,” Russian journalist Andrei Soldatov said, according to the Washington Post. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has faced public pressure to secure the release of Whelan and Griner but has seemingly struggled to make headway as U.S.-Russia relations hover near all-time lows amid the war in Ukraine.
Griner is detained in Russia for drug-related charges, while Whelan was convicted of espionage charges that he denies. Blinken said he is poised to speak with his counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, “in the coming days” in what would be their first known call since the invasion of Ukraine.
