Russian Arms Dealer Released by Biden Spotted With Wagner Group Boss

Viktor Bout, the freed Russian arms dealer nicknamed "the Merchant of Death," was photographed with Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin as they took a joint trip to the Russian city of Ulyanovsk.

Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group fighters played a critical role in Russia's efforts to seize Ukraine's industrial city of Bakhmut, published a photo of the pair on Telegram, announcing that they had taken a trip together on Tuesday.

Bout, a 56-year-old former Soviet military officer, was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States before he was freed in exchange for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner as part of a high-level prisoner swap on December 8.

He was sentenced in April 2012 after being convicted of conspiring to kill U.S. citizens and officials, selling millions of dollars of weapons to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, and aiding a terrorist organization. Bout has been described by the U.S. Justice Department as one of the most prolific arms dealers in the world.

Local news outlets reported that Prigozhin visited a recruitment center for his paramilitary outfit, the Wagner Group.

"It was a joint trip," Prigozhin said in an audio message on Telegram, praising Bout as the "smartest, most educated person."

Bout, "over the many years he spent in an American prison, was engaged in self-education, learned many languages, including Farsi," said Prigozhin.

"As for the Americans who released him from prison, of course, they made a big mistake, because he has such a sober attitude towards the existing situation in the Russian Federation that if he reveals his capabilities and implements his plans, then, of course, Russia will become much stronger, firmer, than there is today," he said.

Prigozhin added: "Therefore, I believe that this person can do a tremendous job for the future of Russia."

Sergey Morgachev, deputy of the Ulyanovsk City Duma, told Kommersant newspaper that Prigozhin met with fighters who were injured and are "undergoing rehabilitation."

Prigozhin "personally promised to resolve all their issues," said Morgachev.

The Wagner chief in December praised Bout's decision to join the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), days after his return to Russian soil from U.S. prison.

The LDPR was founded in 1991 by the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who died in April 2022. It is the third largest party in Russia's State Duma. Leonid Slutsky was appointed as the party's leader following Zhirinovsky's death.

"Viktor Bout is not a person, he is an example of firmness. Bout will certainly be good at the head of any existing party and any movement," Prigozhin said in a statement at the time of the move.

The joint trip by Bout and Prigozhin comes as tensions between the Wagner boss and Russia's Defense Ministry are at an all-time high. Throughout the months-long push to take control of Bakhmut and until the Wagner Group withdrew from the city this month, Prigozhin repeatedly accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of intentionally depriving his fighters of ammunition and support.

Over the weekend, Prigozhin shut down a demand from Shoigu that all voluntary fighters who are fighting for Russia must sign a formal contract with the Russian Federation by July 1, including the Wagner Group.

And on Tuesday, Prigozhin said that the Russian Defense Ministry twice tried to destroy his group.

"This is not just about some kind of interference, but it was about physical destruction, deliberate. Both then and now," Prigozhin said in an audio message on Telegram.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

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