Former Russian arms dealer Victor fighta.k.a. ‘Merchant of Death’, urges Donald Trump to seek refuge in Russia and says his life is ‘at risk’ in US.

In an interview on Russian state television, Bout said he sent a telegram to Trump warning him: “The Biden administration will not stop just dragging you through the court/prison industrial complex.”

Bout told Trump he would find a “safe haven” in Russia from which to lead the fight for the American people, The Telegraph reported.

Bout was released from US custody in December 2022 in a widely publicized one-on-one interview prisoner exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, the got arrested a week before Russia invaded Ukraine for possessing less than a gram of cannabis oil. She spent ten months in prison in Russia.

The Merchant of Death

Accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, Bout was arrested in a US stabbing operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the US and convicted in 2012.

After returning to Russia after the prisoner swap with Brittney Griner, Bout, a former KGB officer and a personal friend from Wladimir Putinjoined the pro-Kremlin ultra-nationalist political party.

prisoner swap

Washington and Moscow have conducted several prisoner swaps in recent years, although several Americans are still being held in Russia.

Last week, Russia arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and accused him of espionage, provoking an international outcry. Washington has called the charges against him “ridiculous.”