Who is Viktor Bout, arms dealer in exchange for Brittney Griner?
Shortly after his 2011 conviction for conspiring to kill US citizens, Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout delivered a message of defiance through his lawyer as he faced decades in prison.< /p>
Mr. Bout, his lawyer said, "believes this is not the end".
More than a decade later, Mr. Bout, 55, has was released, despite being sentenced to half his 25-year prison sentence. He was traded on Thursday for American basketball star Brittney Griner, who has been imprisoned in Russia for 10 months.
Russian officials had been pushing for Mr. Bout's return since his conviction. by a New York jury on four counts, including conspiracy to kill US citizens. Prosecutors said he agreed to sell anti-aircraft weapons to anti-drug informants who posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The then Attorney General, Eric Holder, dubbed Mr. Bout (pronounced "Boot") "one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world". Mr. Bout rose to fame among US intelligence officials, earning the nickname "dealer of death" as he evaded capture for years. His exploits helped inspire a 2005 film, "Lord of War", which starred Nicolas Cage as a character inspired by Mr. Bout.
He was probably the most high-profile Russian in US custody and the prisoner that Russia had campaigned most vehemently for his return. Her return to Russia is likely to rekindle the debate about the wisdom of engaging in prisoner swaps for Americans whom the United States considers 'wrongly detained' - as was the case with Ms Griner and with another American still imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former Marine.
In interviews with reporters, Mr. Bout denied repeatedly the accusations that he worked for Russian intelligence agencies. But Mark Galeotti, an expert in Russia's security services, said there were strong signs - Mr Bout's education, his social and professional networks and his logistical skills - that he is a member, or at least was in close cooperation with, the Russian army. intelligence agency, known as the G.R.U.
"This is also the opinion of US and other authorities - and this explains why Russia has made campaigned so assiduously to get it back," said Mr Galeotti, a lecturer in Russia and transnational crime at University College London, in an interview in July. "All countries are trying to get their citizens out of difficult jurisdictions, but it is clear that the return of Viktor Bout has been a particular priority for the Russians."
Mr. Bout grew up in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, until he was conscripted into the Soviet army at the age of 18. After a term in the army, he studied Portuguese at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, a common entrance to the services of Russian intelligence, and eventually became an officer in the air force.
The Soviet Union collapsed shortly after Mr. Bout left the army. As the Russian economy collapsed and criminal groups flourished, he moved to the United Arab Emirates and started a cargo company that grew to a fleet of 60 planes.
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Shortly after his 2011 conviction for conspiring to kill US citizens, Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout delivered a message of defiance through his lawyer as he faced decades in prison.< /p>
Mr. Bout, his lawyer said, "believes this is not the end".
More than a decade later, Mr. Bout, 55, has was released, despite being sentenced to half his 25-year prison sentence. He was traded on Thursday for American basketball star Brittney Griner, who has been imprisoned in Russia for 10 months.
Russian officials had been pushing for Mr. Bout's return since his conviction. by a New York jury on four counts, including conspiracy to kill US citizens. Prosecutors said he agreed to sell anti-aircraft weapons to anti-drug informants who posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The then Attorney General, Eric Holder, dubbed Mr. Bout (pronounced "Boot") "one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world". Mr. Bout rose to fame among US intelligence officials, earning the nickname "dealer of death" as he evaded capture for years. His exploits helped inspire a 2005 film, "Lord of War", which starred Nicolas Cage as a character inspired by Mr. Bout.
He was probably the most high-profile Russian in US custody and the prisoner that Russia had campaigned most vehemently for his return. Her return to Russia is likely to rekindle the debate about the wisdom of engaging in prisoner swaps for Americans whom the United States considers 'wrongly detained' - as was the case with Ms Griner and with another American still imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former Marine.
In interviews with reporters, Mr. Bout denied repeatedly the accusations that he worked for Russian intelligence agencies. But Mark Galeotti, an expert in Russia's security services, said there were strong signs - Mr Bout's education, his social and professional networks and his logistical skills - that he is a member, or at least was in close cooperation with, the Russian army. intelligence agency, known as the G.R.U.
"This is also the opinion of US and other authorities - and this explains why Russia has made campaigned so assiduously to get it back," said Mr Galeotti, a lecturer in Russia and transnational crime at University College London, in an interview in July. "All countries are trying to get their citizens out of difficult jurisdictions, but it is clear that the return of Viktor Bout has been a particular priority for the Russians."
Mr. Bout grew up in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, until he was conscripted into the Soviet army at the age of 18. After a term in the army, he studied Portuguese at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, a common entrance to the services of Russian intelligence, and eventually became an officer in the air force.
The Soviet Union collapsed shortly after Mr. Bout left the army. As the Russian economy collapsed and criminal groups flourished, he moved to the United Arab Emirates and started a cargo company that grew to a fleet of 60 planes.
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