Merchant of Death[1] Sanctions Buster Vadim Markovich Aminov[2] Viktor Bulakin[2] Viktor Butt[2] Viktor Budd[2] Boris[2]
Occupation
Arms dealer
Political party
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia[3] (2022–present)
Criminal charges
Conspiring to kill, acquiring and export missiles, providing material
to a terrorist organization
Criminal status
Repatriated to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange
Spouse
Alla Bout
(m. 1992)
Children
1
Viktor Anatolyevich Bout[a] (/buːt/; Russian: Ви́ктор Анато́льевич Бут; born 13 January 1967) is a Tajik-born Russian arms dealer. A weapons manufacturer and former Soviet military translator, he used his multiple companies to smuggle arms from Eastern Europe to Africa and the Middle East during the 1990s and early 2000s. Bout gained the nicknames the "Merchant of Death" and "Sanctions Buster" after British minister Peter Hain read a report to the United Nations in 2003 on Bout's wide-reaching operations, extensive clientele, and willingness to bypass embargoes.
In a US sting operation Bout was arrested in 2008 in Thailand on terrorism charges by the Royal Thai Police in cooperation with American authorities and Interpol. The United States Ambassador to Thailand Eric G. John requested his extradition to the United States, which was eventually mandated by the Thai High Court in 2010. Bout was accused of intending to sell arms to a United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informer pretending to represent the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for use against American forces in Colombia, but Bout denied the charges and predicted an acquittal.
In 2011 Bout was convicted by a jury at a federal court in Manhattan, of conspiracy to kill American citizens and officials, delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, and providing aid to a terrorist organization; he was sentenced to the minimum 25 years' imprisonment because the crime was due to the sting operation. From 2012 until 2022, Bout was held at the United States Penitentiary, Marion. In 2022, he was released in a prisoner exchange for American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been incarcerated by Russian authorities for illegally bringing cannabis oil into the country. Bout had served 10 years in prison before his release in December 2022.
After returning to Russia, Bout joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia in 2022 and stood to run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ulyanovsk Oblast as a member of the LDPR on July 2, 2023.[4][5] He won.[6]
^Light, Felix (1 August 2022). "Who is Viktor Bout, arms dealer linked to swap for Americans held by Moscow?". Reuters. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^ abcde"United States of America v. Viktor Bout". 5 February 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
^"Viktor Bout: Russia's released arms dealer joins ultranationalist party". BBC News. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^Hopkins, Valerie (10 September 2023). "Russia's 'Merchant of Death' Is Looking to Forge a New Life in Politics". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
^"In Russian". Election Committee of Ulyanovsk Region.
^Eckel, Mike. "'Merchant Of Death' Viktor Bout Wins Seat In Local Russian Legislature". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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Viktor Anatolyevich Bout (/buːt/; Russian: Ви́ктор Анато́льевич Бут; born 13 January 1967) is a Tajik-born Russian arms dealer. A weapons manufacturer...
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