American basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday was freed from Russia in a prison exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
US President Joe Biden, in an address from the White House, said that he found her “in good spirits” when speaking following the swap in Abu Dhabi.
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“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances. Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along,” Biden said.
Bout, also known as the Merchant of death, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that U.S officials said were to be used against Americans.
The 55-year-old was born Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He smuggled weapons from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Africa and was arrested in March 2008 in Thailand. The Royal Thai Police along with the Interpol charged him with terrorism.
He was nicknamed the Merchant of Death and Sanctions Buster after Peter Hain of the British Foreign Office read a report to the United Nations in 2003 on his wide-reaching operations.
All about Victor Bout’s family: Wife Alla Bout, daughter Elizaveta Bout, mother Raisa Bout, brother Sergei Bout
Victor Bout’s wife Alla was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She is 52 years old and featured in the 2014 documentary The Notorious Mr. Bout. The two got married in 1992.
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Elizaveta was born to Victor and Alla Bout in 1994 in the UAE.
Raisa Bout has been reported to be Victor Bout’s mother. However, no information on her is available. The Merchant of Death also reportedly has a brother named Sergei Bout.
There is no information on his father.
