Biography
Victor Anatolyevich Bout
- Russian entrepreneur
- Public figure
- Member of the Supreme Council of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)
- Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Ulyanovsk Region, 7th convocation
Born on January 13, 1967, in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR.
Graduated from Secondary School No. 1 in the urban-type settlement of Leninsky, the administrative center of Leninsky District, Tajik SSR.
In 1985, was drafted for compulsory military service in the Soviet Army.
In 1987, entered the Red Banner Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR in Moscow.
After completing a one-year training course, served in Mozambique as part of the staff of Soviet military advisers.
Left military service in 1992.
In 1992, began engaging in entrepreneurial activities.
In 2008, was unlawfully arrested and extradited to the United States, where he was detained until 2022. With the assistance of the Russian diplomatic mission, he returned to Russia.
On September 20, 2023, joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).
Married, with one daughter.
“I am flattered by the Pentagon’s assessment of my power. I have no plans to harm America. But I do have plans to work for the benefit of my Motherland.”
“Our multinational Russian people are true patriots of their Motherland. And they are doing everything possible to ensure that, as a country, we not only achieve victory, but also truly become a universally recognized global leader in many industries.”
“In its current form, the West is incapable of reaching agreements.”
“Therefore, perhaps we need to understand that, unfortunately, we are still living by inertia within the old system… where we try to talk about certain principles, international rules, and agreements… But as for the agreements we had with the West, they either withdrew from them… or simply laughed and said: ‘Oh, we deceived you.’”
After completing his military service, he worked for the Union of United Cooperatives of the USSR, actively participating in the activities of the Center for the Organization of International Transportation.
In 1992, he began independently engaging in charter cargo transportation.
In 1994, he began acquiring aircraft and established a company at Sharjah International Airport in the UAE.
In 1994, he transported French troops from France to Rwanda as part of Operation Turquoise.
In 1995, he registered the cargo airline Air Cess. It became one of the world’s leading air carriers, with Soviet-built aircraft transporting cargo between Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Russia.
In 1997, he acquired an airline in South Africa.
“I am flattered by the Pentagon’s assessment of my power. I have no plans to harm America. But I do have plans to work for the benefit of my Motherland.”
“Our multinational Russian people are true patriots of their Motherland. And they are doing everything possible to ensure that, as a country, we not only achieve victory, but also truly become a universally recognized global leader in many industries.”
“In its current form, the West is incapable of reaching agreements.”
“Therefore, perhaps we need to understand that, unfortunately, we are still living by inertia within the old system… where we try to talk about certain principles, international rules, and agreements… But as for the agreements we had with the West, they either withdrew from them… or simply laughed and said: ‘Oh, we deceived you.’”
THE MYTH OF THE “ARMS DEALER”
In 2002 Belgium, which had been cooperating with the U.S. CIA following the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, accused Bout of arms smuggling based on testimony from a Kenyan national named Sanjivan Ruprah.
He was accused of arms trafficking, while Ruprah was seeking ways to negotiate a deal with the prosecution. However, the Belgian prosecution ultimately closed the case against Victor Bout due to a lack of evidence.
At the same time, the United Nations imposed an arms embargo on Liberia and sent experts there to investigate the situation. One of several reports, prepared by Belgian national Johan Peleman, mentioned Victor Bout as a provider of air cargo transportation to the African continent.
The UN considered this sufficient grounds to include Bout on the Liberia sanctions list. (In 2015, the UN Security Council lifted the sanctions against Victor Bout.)
Based on the UN sanctions, in 2006 U.S. President George W. Bush signed Executive Order No. 13348, placing Victor Bout on the U.S. sanctions list and freezing his assets in the United States.
The media reported that in 2006 the U.S. authorities had frozen $6 billion in Bout’s accounts. This is how the myth that Victor Bout was a billionaire who had made his fortune through arms trafficking was born. According to Bout himself, this was false, especially since he did not have any bank accounts in the United States.
THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE TRAP AND TRIAL
In 2008, Victor Bout traveled to Thailand at the invitation of an employee of his South American company named Andrew Smulian, unaware that Smulian had been recruited by South African military intelligence.
Bout believed he was traveling to negotiate a deal involving the sale of two cargo aircraft to new partners from Colombia. However, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were posing as Colombians. Instead of discussing aircraft, they questioned Victor Bout about the price of modern weapons, including man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) and explosives, and recorded the conversation.
As a result, on March 6, 2008, Thai police arrested Victor Bout at a hotel in Bangkok pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by a Thai court at the request of the United States. Bout was accused of intending to sell weapons to Colombian terrorists from the FARC.
However, the Thai court of first instance did not accept the conversations about the alleged arms sale, which had been staged by U.S. agents, as evidence. The court rejected the U.S. request to extradite Victor Bout to the United States and released him.
On November 16, 2010, Victor Bout was illegally taken to the United States in handcuffs. There, he stood trial in New York on charges of conspiring to kill Americans and U.S. officials, as well as attempting to sell missiles to FARC terrorists.
On November 2, 2011, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York returned a guilty verdict against Victor Bout. The court subsequently sentenced him to 25 years in a U.S. prison.
Victor Bout himself pleaded not guilty and stated that he had been subjected to pressure by U.S. authorities, who allegedly demanded that he provide compromising information about the Russian leadership in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Victor Bout’s lawyers filed an appeal, arguing that jurors had reached their decision after watching the Hollywood film starring Nicolas Cage, “Lord of War,” which portrayed Victor Bout in a negative light.
“I am flattered by the Pentagon’s assessment of my power. I have no plans to harm America. But I do have plans to work for the benefit of my Motherland.”
“Our multinational Russian people are true patriots of their Motherland. And they are doing everything possible to ensure that, as a country, we not only achieve victory, but also truly become a universally recognized global leader in many industries.”
“In its current form, the West is incapable of reaching agreements.”
“Therefore, perhaps we need to understand that, unfortunately, we are still living by inertia within the old system… where we try to talk about certain principles, international rules, and agreements… But as for the agreements we had with the West, they either withdrew from them… or simply laughed and said: ‘Oh, we deceived you.’”
On December 8, 2022, Russia and the United States carried out a prisoner exchange involving Victor Bout, who was serving a sentence in a U.S. prison, and American basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been convicted in Russia of drug possession.
Upon returning to Russia, on December 12, 2022, Victor Bout joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).
On September 20, 2023, he was registered as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Ulyanovsk Region, 7th convocation, elected from the LDPR on the regional electoral district. He became a member of the Committee on Industry, Construction, Transport and Road Infrastructure, as well as the Committee on Agricultural and Food Policy. He is a member of the Supreme Council of the LDPR.
“I am flattered by the Pentagon’s assessment of my power. I have no plans to harm America. But I do have plans to work for the benefit of my Motherland.”
“Our multinational Russian people are true patriots of their Motherland. And they are doing everything possible to ensure that, as a country, we not only achieve victory, but also truly become a universally recognized global leader in many industries.”
“In its current form, the West is incapable of reaching agreements.”
“Therefore, perhaps we need to understand that, unfortunately, we are still living by inertia within the old system… where we try to talk about certain principles, international rules, and agreements… But as for the agreements we had with the West, they either withdrew from them… or simply laughed and said: ‘Oh, we deceived you.’”