Freed Russian Arms Dealer Viktor Bout Would 'Volunteer' In Putin's War

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Viktor Bout, the notorious arm dealer who was freed by the U.S. in a high-profile prisoner exchange with Russia this week, was reported by Moscow-based news site Gazeta.ru as saying that he would volunteer to fight in Ukraine if possible.

On Saturday, Gazeta—whose holding company Rambler Media Group passed under the sole ownership of state-owned company Sberbank in 2020—wrote on Twitter that Bout had said about the "special operation" in Ukraine: "If I had the opportunity and the necessary skills, I would, of course, volunteer."

The tweet referred to an article Gazeta.ru published on the same day, quoting an interview Bout gave to state-controlled international news media Russia Today (RT) after his return to Moscow. After the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February, RT was banned by the entire European Union and Canada.

In the interview, which is available on a video published by Gazeta.ru, Bout expressed his support for Putin's war in Ukraine, talking about volunteering for the battlefront. RT described the live exclusive interview with the arm dealer as Bout's first TV interview after 11 years in an American jail.

Viktor Bout
Viktor Bout sits inside a detention cell at Bangkok Supreme Court on July 28, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand. In his first interview after being freed in a prisoner exchange this week, Bout said he supports... Chumsak Kanoknan/ Getty Images

In the interview, Bout described what happened to him as something that has happened to his entire country, saying he was the first to go through this "experiment" and he was made to be "an example" for other Russians.

Talking about the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in terms of a "special military operation," Bout said: "A Russian man like me, I never understood why we didn't do this earlier." The arm dealer claimed that in 2014 he saw Ukrainians waving Russian flags and calling "Russia! Russia!" in Donbas and Odessa.

He added that, "of course, I do understand that not everyone was ready. I fully support the special military operation," he concluded, talking about the possibility of volunteering.

Talking about his return to Moscow, Bout said that he was enjoying being back with his family and loved ones and seeing the snow. He added that wanting to have a family and "being a normal person"—a freedom he now enjoys, he said—is something that is hard in the U.S. It's unclear whether he was talking about himself specifically or the entire country.

Bout returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange that saw basketball star Brittney Griner going home to Texas on Friday after being arrested at a Moscow in February for carrying cannabis oil.

The deal was announced on Thursday by President Biden. After being jailed for ten months, Griner was flown into San Antonio on Friday, where her wife was expected to meet and where she's reportedly receiving medical care. White House's National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told MSNBC on the same day that the basketball star was in "good spirits" and "good health."

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more