US-Russian prisoner exchange

In the US-Russia prisoner exchange, Russia’s release of American basketball player Brittney Griner and the US release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout caused uproar in international public opinion .

The release of Viktor Bout, known worldwide as the “merchant of death”, has drawn criticism that “the US has bowed to Russia”. CNN aired an analysis of why Bout, 55, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States in 2012 for supplying weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is so important to Russian leader Putin.

In the analysis, it was noted that Griner was found guilty only of drug possession, while Viktor Bout was found guilty of running a global weapons network.

Russian state media shared footage of the prisoner exchange.

BROADCASTING LIVE RUSSIAN TV

Bout, who arrived in Moscow last night and was broadcast live on Russian television, said: “They woke me up in the middle of the night to pack my things,” hugging his mother and wife.

Bout, a former Soviet soldier, was described as one of the world’s leading arms dealers. Bout, who was captured by the US operation in Thailand in 2008, denied the charges against him and argued that he was carrying out a legal transport. However, in 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for “attempting to kill Americans by supplying terrorists with missiles” in the court he was brought to in the United States.

Bout allegedly sold weapons to the FARC organization in Colombia, to Africa, and even to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Bout, on the other hand, argued that the United States attacked him for political purposes, and the Russian administration vowed to fight to the end for Bout’s release. Bout, who was on the world agenda for a while, also garnered Hollywood attention, and his story was also the subject of the 2005 film God of War starring Nicolas Cage and Jared Leto.

Brittney Griner

FOR YEARS, PUTIN HAS STRIVED TO BE RELEASED

CNN wrote that Bout is a very big name for Russia, and that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been working hard for years to get himself released. It was noted that Bout, who is said to be close to major political figures in the world, is very close to Russian intelligence as a former soldier, trading weapons with the world in accordance with the interests of the Russian state.

The analysis also pointed out that the release of Bout, whom many Russians viewed as a hero, became a prestigious issue for the Russian state for years.

American basketball player Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia in February with drugs and sentenced to 9 years in prison and a fine of 1 million rubles in court. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, shared yesterday on his Twitter account: “I spoke on the phone with Brittney Griner a few minutes ago. She is safe and now she is coming home.”