The former arms dealer, who the US traded for WNBA star Brittney Griner, is running in Russia as a member of a far-right political party.
Viktor Bout, 56, has joined Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is now running for election to the regional legislature. The PLD currently holds 23 of the 450 seats in the Russian legislature. The party is to the right of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dominant United Russia Party.
The arms dealer, formerly known as the “merchant of death”, had been serving a sentence in the US following his 2008 arrest in Thailand. He was released in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap for Griner, who had been sentenced to nine years in prison for possession of vaping cartridges containing cannabinoids.
Bout served only 10 years of his 25-year sentence in the United States
WNBA Says BRITTNEY GRINER SUBJECT TO ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ INCIDENT INVOLVING SOCILA MEDIA ‘PROVOCATOR’
This combination of images shows Viktor Bout, left, a former Russian arms dealer in criminal court in Bangkok on August 20, 2010 and the WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist occasions Brittney Griner, right, in a courtroom before a hearing. , in Khimki, outside Moscow. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong, left, and Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)
Griner last made headlines last month when she was harassed by a YouTuber at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.
Griner was harassed on June 10 at the airport when YouTuber Alex Stein approached her and asked her several questions, including whether she had sex with Vladimir Putin to get out of prison in Russia.
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YouTuber Alex Stein asked WNBA star Brittany Griner about a potential feud with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The man was pushed away by his team’s safety, and one of Griner’s teammates is heard calling the YouTuber “weird.”
Griner voiced his opinion on the matter when the Phoenix Mercury went on a video call introducing interim coach Nikki Blue.
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia. (Photo AP/LM Otero)
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Griner argued that the WNBA should provide more funding to allow teams to travel on private chartered planes instead of regular airlines. She said the harassment incident was “bottom line” for the WNBA.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter for Fox News Digital who covers national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
