Bout grew up in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, until his conscription into the Soviet military at age 18. Bout was the highest profile Russian prisoner in America, there were many more Russians in U.S. prisons, particularly for hacking. Shortly after his conviction in 2011 on charges including conspiring to kill American citizens, the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout relayed a defiant message through his lawyer, even though he faced the prospect of decades in prison. Prosecutors said he had agreed to sell antiaircraft weapons to drug enforcement informants who were posing as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. In 1995, the Taliban forced down one of his planes in Afghanistan and seized the cargo and imprisoned the crew. Russian Arms Dealer in Proposed Swap for Brittney Griner Has Notorious History, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/world/europe/viktor-bout-russia-prisoner-swap.html. Bout. He has been at the center of a Russian campaign, we dont abandon our own, that has cast his arrest as unfair and politically motivated. ", Prior to the call between Blinken and Lavrov, US officials had expressed frustration at Moscow's lack of substantive response to the proposal to free Whelan and Griner. Ms. Griners trial began on July 1; she has pleaded guilty. Thai authorities arrested him on the spot. Anyone can read what you share. Bout, 55, may be nearing a chance for a new beginning even though he has served less than half of his 25-year prison sentence. Krasikov was convicted in December of murdering a former Chechen fighter, Zelimkhan "Tornike" Khangoshvili, in Berlin's Kleiner Tiergarten in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison. Russian authorities have long maintained Mr. Bouts innocence and demanded his repatriation. It was a lesson they never quite forgot, said Mr. Soldatov. In February, Russian authorities detained, Officials in Russia said they detained Ms. Griner after. Trading rest for overseas competition is common among the leagues players for many reasons, but often the biggest motivation is money. His ability to avoid being captured added to his notoriety among Western intelligence officials. How is the U.S. approaching the situation? Since then, her detentionhas been repeatedly extended. All countries try to get their citizens out of rough jurisdictions, but it is clear that it has been a particular priority for the Russians in getting Viktor Bout back.. If there is an opportunity to achieve his release, then, in my opinion, this chance should be used.. Trading rest for overseas competition is common among the leagues players for many reasons. Bout (pronounced Boot) one of the worlds most prolific arms dealers. Mr. Bout has repeatedly denied accusations that he has worked for Russian intelligence agencies. But Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russias security services, said there are strong signs Mr. Bouts education, his social and professional networks, and his logistical skills that he is a member, or at least was in close collaboration with, Russias military intelligence agency, known as the G.R.U. His exploits helped inspire a 2005 film, Lord of War, that starred Nicolas Cage. U.S. officials have saidthat Ms. Griner was wrongfully detained,adding that they were working aggressively to bring her home. What happened? starswife, who had questioned whether the Biden administration is doing enough. As such, and because the request was not communicated formally but rather through a FSB backchannel, the US government did not view it as a legitimate counter to the US' offer which was first revealed by CNN on Wednesday. They've been trying to get him back for decades. It is nothing more than a bad faith attempt by the Russians publicly to avoid what is a serious proposal, one that we are not making detailed in public and has been on the books for several weeks and we urge the Russians to accept it. The request was seen as problematic for several reasons, the sources told CNN, among them that Krasikov remains in German custody. Experts say that her best hope may be for the Biden administration to suggest a prisoner swap with a Russian citizen being held by the United States. Now, he is probably the highest profile Russian in U.S. custody and the prisoner Russia has campaigned the most vociferously to have returned. the basketball star Brittney Griner and a former Marine, Paul Whelan, after she was stopped at an airport near Moscow, finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage, the star had a medical prescription for the hashish oil, but often the biggest motivation is money, questioned whether the Biden administration is doing enough, a prisoner swap with a Russian citizen being held by the United States, had put forward a proposal to that effect, said she had been tossed into a bewildering legal system, be part of a prisoner swap to release Ms. Griner. According to several investigations and his U.S. indictment, he and his associates flouted arms embargoes in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Algeria, where he sold weapons to both the government forces and the rebels fighting them. What are the possible outcomes? ", The US has offered Bout, who is serving a 25-year US prison sentence, as part of a potential deal to secure the release of Griner and Whelan. (CNN)An attorney for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout said Monday he is "confident" the proposed prisoner swap of his client for Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan is going to happen. Griner was in Russia playing for an international team during the W.N.B.A. His exploits helped inspire a 2005 film, Lord of War, that starred Nicolas Cage as a character fashioned after Mr. He moved to the U.A.E. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby in an earlier interview on "New Day" called the Russian's request a "bad faith attempt" and said the country should accept the US' offer. Why was she detained? "Holding two Americans who have been wrongfully detained hostage for a convicted murderer in a third country is just -- we don't consider that a serious counteroffer at all. ", Zissou continued, "Look, it's no secret they've been wanting him back for several years now. Referring to Russian security agencies, he said, It makes total sense, from their point of view to do the same with the U.S.. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on July 27 that the United States had put forward a proposal to that effectin talks with Russia weeks earlier. Mr. The very real risk with this deal is that it stands to incentivize foreign powers to grab Americans off the streets and throw them in jail, said Lee Wolosky, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton administration, who led the initial U.S. effort to capture Mr. As Russias economy collapsed and criminal groups thrived, he moved to the United Arab Emirates and started a cargo company that grew to a fleet of 60 planes. Michael Crowley and Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting. In interviews with journalists, Mr. Bout left the military. Andrei Soldatov, a Russian journalist and expert on the security services who is a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said that while Mr. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. More than a decade later, Mr. With military supplies of former Soviet states leaking onto the black market, his shipping empire delivered guns to rebels, militants and terrorists around the world, prosecutors said. Why was she in Russia? The United States, trying to negotiate the release of two Americans imprisoned in Russia the basketball star Brittney Griner and a former Marine, Paul Whelan proposed exchanging them last month for Mr. He said he expected to raise the issue in the coming days with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov. Bout and Russian officials somehow managed to get the crew out of the country: In 2003, he told The New York Times Magazine they were extracted, and in 2012, The New Yorker reported, he said they simply escaped. CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Frederik Pleitgen and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report. And the more prominent those traveling Americans are, the better.. Russian officials have pressed for Mr. Bouts return since his conviction in 2011 by a New York jury on four counts that included conspiring to kill American citizens. In February, Russian authorities detained Brittney Griner, an American basketball player, on drug charges, after she was stopped at an airport near Moscow. On Wednesday evening, Mr. Bouts wife, Alla, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that neither she nor her husband had heard anything about his possible exchange. ", Viktor Bout's attorney says prisoner swap would be a 'fair trade.' Oleg Morozov, a member of Russias Parliament, the Duma, cheered the possibility of Mr. Bouts return. If he is sent back to Russia, it is likely to re-ignite the debate over the wisdom of engaging in prisoner exchanges for Americans the United States considers wrongfully detained as is the case with Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan. After a term in the Army, he studied Portuguese at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, a common entree to Russian intelligence services, and eventually became an officer in the Air Force. At a press conference on Friday he declined to say whether he thought Russia was more or less likely to move on the proposal following the conversation, nor would he describe how Lavrov responded. Officials in Russia said they detained Ms. Griner after finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage;a criminal case carrying a sentence of up to 10 years was later opened against her. The Soviet Union broke apart not long after Mr. When the prospective buyers told him the weapons could be used to kill American pilots , Mr. Bout. off-season. Blinken said he "pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner." An abandoned plane once tied to Mr. ", On Friday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It is unclear whether Mr. Bouts possible return would further encourage Russia to arrest Westerners who can be traded; Moscow denies allegations that it intentionally arrests people to force an exchange. Viktor Bout has been accused of supplying arms to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and rebels in Rwanda. "This so-called, you call it a counteroffer, we would call it a bad faith attempt to avoid what is a serious proposal already on the table. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the call that Lavrov "strongly suggested" to Blinken that the United States should return to a mode of "quiet diplomacy" regarding a possible prisoner exchange "without any dubious media leaks. Bout responded, We have the same enemy, prosecutors said. and started an air-cargo company, eventually building a fleet of 60 planes. But Russian officials have requested that Vadim Krasikov, a former colonel from the country's domestic spy agency, be included in the US' proposed swap of Bout for Griner and Whelan, multiple sources familiar with the discussions have. Mr. We, of course, assume that such negotiations can take place, but we do not talk about this, because neither he nor I have any information.. In the years since, Russian authorities have maintained Mr. Bouts innocence and brought him up as a possible swap for other high-profile American and Ukrainian detainees held by Russia. And oh, by the way Brianna, has been on the table now for several weeks," Kirby told CNN's Brianna Keilar on Monday. Viktor Bout was illegally convicted and has been waiting for help from the Russian state for many years, he told Ria Novosti. The attorney general at the time, Eric Holder, called Mr. A mural in Washington depicting American hostages held abroad, including Paul Whelan, left, this month. The basketball star Brittney Griner has been held in Russia since before its invasion of Ukraine. In the new era of privatization in Russia, arms traffickers were able to use old Soviet-era social, military and business networks, and to also develop shell companies to hide transactions. a culture that makes it clear to its own agents we will get you back. That kind of loyalty to your own is really important when you are expecting people to put themselves potentially in harms way.. Bout, at an old airfield in the United Arab Emirates. Bout was accused of selling weapons to Al Qaeda, the Taliban and militants in Rwanda. Bout. He was extradited and convicted of conspiring to kill Americans. "I'm confident this is going to get done. Hear why, CNN Exclusive: Russian officials requested adding convicted murderer to Griner/Whelan prisoner swap. Mr. Bouts exchange has been a priority for Russia a matter of honor and a matter of ruthless pragmatism, said Mr. Galeotti, the Russia expert. He was extradited to the United States in 2010 and two years later was sentenced to 25 years. That is also the opinion of U.S. and other authorities and it explains the reasons Russia has been so assiduously campaigning to get him back, said Mr. Galeotti, a lecturer on Russia and transnational crime at University College London. But that information comes from the Russian side as opposed to the American side," Bout's attorney Steve Zissou told CNN's John Avlon on "New Day." Russian intelligence agencies have inherited from the former Soviet K.G.B. With her guilty plea making the verdict all but a foregone conclusion, Ms. Griners lawyers have been arguing for leniency. Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, arriving at court in Bangkok in 2010. The Russian authorities, Mr. Soldatov said, learned how to create banks of hostages in the early 2000s during a brutal war with the breakaway region of Chechnya, right after President Vladimir V Putin came to power. Mr. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Wednesday that the United States had made a substantial proposal to the Kremlin, but declined to discuss details of a possible swap and did not name Mr. Two days after Ms. Griner sent a handwritten letter to President Biden asking him not to forget about her, Mr.Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Cherelle Griner, the W.N.B.A. Griner was in Russia playing for an international team during the W.N.B.A. State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Thursday acknowledged "this has not moved to the extent we would like. Mr. Bout met with undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents he believed represented rebels from Colombias Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC, which the United States considered a terrorist organization until last year. Ms. Grinerslawyers have argued thatthe star had a medical prescription for the hashish oiland mistakenly carried the drug into Russia. U.S. authorities finally caught up with him in Bangkok in 2008. Nicolas Asfouri/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. Mr. That's not something they've ever kept secret. Bout become notorious among American intelligence officials, earning the nickname Merchant of Death as he evaded capture for years. We talked on the phone yesterday, she said, according to the news agency. Bout, according to a person briefed on the negotiations. Bout, his lawyer said, believes this is not the end.. off-season.