International arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” revealed Friday what he told WNBA star Brittney Griner during the December prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.
The exchange between both countries took place at an Abu Dhabi airport.
Bout, 56, stepped off a plane and shook hands with one man, hugged another before apparently looking in Griner’s direction.
“I told him, you know, ‘I wish you good luck and, you know, we both went to our, you know, planes,’” Bout exclusively told ESPN’s TJ Quinn.
Griner had been arrested on drug charges at a Moscow airport for nearly 10 months, while Bout has been in US custody since 2008.
Bout followed the timeline of Griner’s arrest from inside an Illinois prison where he was serving a 25-year sentence for conspiracy to kill Americans: The DEA captured him in Thailand.
Convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout said he wished Griner “good luck” during their brief exchange during the exchange. AFP via Getty Images
Griner, 32, was detained by Russian authorities in February 2022 after finding a cannabis vaporizer cartridge in her luggage while trying to leave the country as Russia prepared to invade Ukraine.
The WNBA All-Star pleaded guilty to drug possession charges in July 2022 and was sentenced to nine years in a labor camp in Mordovia.
Bout found out he was “going home” from a guard on the day of the exchange.
Bout recalled that “the guards arrived at four in the morning with the boxes” and knocked on his cell door and told him to start packing his things, and he knew that his hours were numbered in the United States.
“I realized that yes, I was going home,” Bout said.
Brittney Griner is seen returning to San Antonio, TX on December 9, 2022, following the trade. AFP via Getty Images
Griner sits inside a holding cell after being sentenced to nine years in a labor camp.REUTERS
The convicted arms dealer told the outlet that he was “immediately shocked” to see the All-Star player without her “signature braids” after she cut them to prevent her hair from freezing in the harsh Russian winter.
Noting that the WNBA Center was significantly “taller” than him when the deal began to unfold, Bout said he reached out and shook Griner’s hand briefly before embarking back to Russia, he told the outlet.
Bout sympathized with Griner and said that they were both “pawns” of the politicians involved who were playing “chess, on this big chess board that they call geopolitics.”
Bout is being escorted by police as he arrives at the Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok for an important hearing that could determine whether he will be extradited to the United States on October 5, 2010.ZUMAPRESS.com
US Navy veteran Paul Whelan remains in a Russian prison after being accused of being arrested for spying for the United States in Moscow.AP
“I feel bad or sorry for anyone who is going to be used as a pawn, regardless of whether they committed something or not,” he told the outlet.
“Advertising is a multiplying factor that can really kill you if you are not strong enough to handle it.”
President Joe Biden approved the deal after months of back-and-forth with the Kremlin and the White House to secure Griner’s release.
The exchange came with much opposition from Americans, believing that Bout was a danger to the nation, and the administration did not include US Navy veteran Paul Whelan in the exchange.
Whelan has been accused of spying for the United States and has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn