By Brecht Jonkers
The United States and Russia have agreed on a prisoner exchange, in which Russia releases Brittney Griner, who was jailed for transporting drugs into Russia, in exchange for the United States freeing Russian arms dealer Viktor Anatolyevich Bout. Initially, the US was planning to get former Marine Paul Whelan, jailed in Russia for espionage, exchanged as well, but the spy has ultimately not become part of the exchange deal.
Viktor Bout, also known as the Sanctions Buster, or the Merchant of Death by British sources, is a former Soviet military translator, intelligence service operative (either GRU or KGB depending on the source), and convicted international arms trader. It is believed, though never having been proven, that Bout directed the sale of weapons across the world, often in direct defiance of blockades and sanctions. Sources claim he supplied weaponry to Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kenya, Lebanon and Libya, amongst others. Many of his sales actively undermined US allies and Zionist projects around the world, earning him the ire of the United States in particular.
Viktor Bout was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the United States two years later, following a sting operation by US intelligence agents pretending to represent Colombian Marxist guerilla organisation FARC. In 2011, Bout was convicted for the attempted sale of weapons to FARC, which was the only charge the US court could somewhat prove with evidence, and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
Viktor Bout and Brittney Griner were reportedly flown to Abu Dhabi, where the exchange took place on the tarmac. “The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed in a statement.
