Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has shown his gratitude to the U.S. side for the treatment received during the recent exchange process with basketball player Brittney Griner.
As reported by Bout’s wife Alla to the Russian news agency TASS, the U.S. authorities involved in the exchange process fed her husband and transferred her without shackles.
Alla has also reported that one of the prison employees even bought her clothes with his own money. Also, during the transfer, the U.S. side apologized to Bout for not having collected some of the drawings she had made during her period of detention.
«We hope that the American side will give him those documents and drawings that he was unable to take out of prison, they were not ready,» said Bout’s wife, who acknowledged having recently spoken with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. «We hope that the American side will give him those documents and drawings that he was unable to take out of prison, they were not ready,» said Bout’s wife.
Finally, Alla said that her husband is «terribly exhausted» and that he has not slept for at least three days due both to the trip itself and to the «emotional component» of returning to Russia.
The United States and Russia confirmed on Thursday the exchange of prisoners by which the American professional basketball player Brittney Griner, imprisoned in Russia on drug trafficking charges, and Viktor Bout, until now in a U.S. prison for arms trafficking, returned to their respective countries.
The player was sentenced to nine years in prison after Russian authorities found cannabis oil during a February search at Moscow airport.
Bout, known as the ‘merchant of war’ for his involvement in arms trafficking, was arrested in Thailand in 2008 on U.S. orders and was serving a 25-year prison sentence until today.
