Moscow and Washington exchanged businessman Viktor Bout, who is serving a prison sentence in the United States on arms trafficking charges, for American basketball player Brittney Griner.
United States basketball player Brittney Griner, who was convicted in Russia on a drug smuggling case, was exchanged for Russian Viktor Bout, who is serving time in America for arms trafficking. The exchange was made at Abu Dhabi airport, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, December 8.
“For a long time, the Russian Federation has been negotiating with the United States on the release of the VA Bout. Washington has categorically refused to engage in a dialogue on Russian inclusion in the exchange scheme. However, the Russian Federation continues to actively working to save our countrymen. As a result of the efforts made an agreement was reached with the American side in the organization of the exchange of VA Bout for B. Greiner, the report said.
Confirmed by the President of the United States Twitterthat Greiner is free and on board the American plane. He said he talked to the athlete, “everything is okay with him.”
The American leader stressed that the United States has not given up on efforts to free all “Americans illegally convicted abroad.”
Viktor Bout is a Russian criminal arms dealer. Also known as the “dealer of death”. He became the prototype of Nicolas Cage’s character in the movie “Lord of War”. He was detained in Bangkok on March 6, 2008 at the request of Washington on charges of illegal arms trafficking, conspiracy to kill US citizens and support for terrorism. On November 16, 2010, he was transferred to the United States. In 2012, a US court sentenced Bout to 25 years in prison.
US team basketball player Brittney Griner, who played in Russia for Yekaterinburg UMMC, is considered one of the best in the world. He was detained in February 2022 at Sheremetyevo Airport upon arrival in Russia: hash oil was found in his luggage. Since then, he has been in custody.
In court, Greiner said he pleaded guilty. The drug was prescribed to him in the United States as a pain reliever. He knew that it was impossible to bring them to Russia, but he accidentally put them in his luggage when he was packing. On August 4, a Russian court sentenced him to 9 years in prison and a fine of 1 million rubles.
This is the second prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia since the beginning of the year – in April, Russian pilot Alexander Yaroshenko returned to his homeland after spending more than 10 years in an American prison . He was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and transferring money to a radical leftist rebel group. He was traded for Trevor Reed, who was convicted in 2020 of assaulting a police officer in Moscow.
US blacklists 10 Russian companies
news Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel Athletistic
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.