Viktor Bout, the arms dealer who was returned to Russia in a prisoner swap for US citizen Brittney Griner, hailed his country’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it should have happened sooner, according to state television.
During an interview on Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today (RT), Bout said that “any Russian person” should approve of Russia’s “special military operation” and would have joined the fight if he could.
“To be honest, I couldn’t even understand why we didn’t do it sooner,” he said on RT on Saturday. “Why in 2014, you know, there were demonstrations in Kharkiv, people were wearing huge tricolors and shouting ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ also in Donbas and Odessa, you know?”
Viktor Bout sits inside a holding cell at the Bangkok High Court on July 28, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand.
(Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images)
He added: “Yes, clearly the conditions weren’t right and we weren’t ready, but I would have wholeheartedly supported it.”
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Bout later told host Maria Butina that if he “had the opportunity and the necessary skills”, he “would have gone” and joined the fight as a volunteer. According to the Ukrainian government, approximately 94,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the fighting as of December 11.
Russian losses include nearly 6,000 armored personnel carriers, nearly 3,000 tanks, and nearly 2,000 artillery systems.
Former Soviet military officer and arms trafficking suspect Viktor Bout at the Westchester County Airport on November 16, 2010, in White Plains, New York.
(US Department of Justice via Getty Images)
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During the same interview, Bout said that Western countries, including the United States, were seeking to “destroy” and “divide” Russia.
“The West believes that they did not finish us off in 1990, when the Soviet Union began to disintegrate… They think they can destroy us again and divide Russia,” he said, according to the Moscow Times.
As for Griner, Bout said he “wish him luck” following his prisoner exchange in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, December 9. Both were returned to their respective countries within 24 hours.
“Again, it is our tradition. I should wish everyone good fortune and happiness,” he added, according to Reuters.
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Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout arrives at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010.
(NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Russian, nicknamed the “merchant of death,” was previously convicted of arms trafficking, conspiracy to kill Americans and money laundering.
Griner was convicted by a Russian court of bringing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil into Russia, where cannabis is prohibited.
