Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Who Was Traded By The US For Brittney Griner’s Freedom Running For Political Office in Russia

Russian notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout was extradited to the US in 2010 and was in custody until he was traded for WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian prison in December 2022. Viktor Bout spent the past 10 years out of Russia while serving a sentence in the United States, however, eight months after he was extradited back to Russia, Viktor Bout is putting his political ambitions back on track by vying for a council office.

The 56-year-old man has been approved as a candidate for the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and will be contesting candidates for the Krasnoyarsk City Council. Viktor Bout was to spend 25 years in the US prison before he was fortunate to get traded just ten years into the sentence.

Details via TPS;

Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer who was swapped for Brittney Griner in December, has undertaken a novel endeavor.

Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” was in American custody before the U.S. government opted to use him in a prisoner exchange for the WNBA star after she spent most of 2022 in a Russian prison for being found with vapor cartridges containing hash oil.

According to Russia’s state-owned news outlet, TASS, the 56-year-old, who served 10 years of a 25-year sentence, has been approved as a candidate for local elections in Russia by the far-right ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party.

Prior to his arrest in 2008, Bout had his hands in several civil wars as he supplied sophisticated weaponry to warring groups, sometimes selling to both sides.

He was brought down in an operation put together by the DEA involving three countries and was extradited to the U.S. in 2010.

“Viktor Bout, in my eyes, is one of the most dangerous men on the face of the Earth,” former DEA chief of operations Michael Braun said on 60 Minutes back that year.

Bout is now a free man, but it appears he isn’t satisfied with simply being free.

According to the DEA, Viktor Bout is one of the most notorious and dangerous men on earth. However, to Russians, he is an honorable man who deserves to hold political office. The act isn’t the crime, but where and when it is committed changes everything.

Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer freed in a prisoner swap for US basketball star Brittney Griner, will contest elections for a seat in a Russian regional legislature. He was chosen as a candidate by Russia's Liberal Democratic Party https://t.co/vxaCYlVvzW pic.twitter.com/Tald471ry9

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 3, 2023