A few days after his release from a US prison in exchange for the release of US basketball player Brittney Griner, Viktor Bout, called the ‘merchant of death’ in the United States, joined the ultra-nationalist Russian party LDPR, founded and led by Russian politician Volodymyr Zhirynovsky until his death in March 2022. This was announced by the current party leader, State Duma member Leonid Slutsky.
In his speech at a party card handover ceremony in Moscow, Bout said that the LDPR and Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s international committee, had done a lot for his release and that his duty now is “to take an active part in party work.”
