Russia turns the 'merchant of death' into a symbol and gets him into politics

Four days after leaving the Marion (Illinois) penitentiary, Víktor But took the first step yesterday to dedicate himself to politics in his country.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
12 December 2022 Monday 23:30
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Russia turns the 'merchant of death' into a symbol and gets him into politics

Four days after leaving the Marion (Illinois) penitentiary, Víktor But took the first step yesterday to dedicate himself to politics in his country. He made room for the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), an ultranationalist formation close to the Kremlin. His new militant is not a trump card for future elections, which at the moment he does not plan to run for, but it is a symbol of patriotism and loyalty to power.

But, 55, received the party card from its leader, Leonid Slutski, during the assembly to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of its founding. “We are a patriotic party! I am sure that Viktor But, strong in spirit and brave man, will occupy a worthy place in it. Welcome to our ranks!" He told her. And he assured that But "has become a symbol of the struggle for principles, for the spiritual and moral foundations of today's Russia."

After months of negotiations, Moscow and Washington reached an agreement to exchange But for basketball player Brittney Griner, sentenced in August to nine years in prison for carrying two cartridges of hashish oil vapor in her luggage. The swap was made in Abu Dhabi on December 8.

The former Soviet Union air force officer, where he worked as a translator, became something of a legend in the decades following the end of the USSR. Transmuted into a businessman, he took advantage of the planes of his airlines to provide weapons to numerous countries and organizations, some considered terrorist by the United States. At the beginning of this century, his name appears in reports by the UN, Amnesty International and the US State Department as one of the main illegal suppliers of arms to Africa, bypassing UN sanctions.

He earned the nickname of the merchant of death, and his aura found its way to the movies, inspiring the 2005 film Lord of War, which starred Nicolas Cage.

In Russia, that legend has been transformed into patriotism since his arrest in Thailand by US agents in 2008 and his extradition to the US in 2010. In 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for arms trafficking. .

That after settling this case, But enters politics is not extraordinary. Other characters who have starred in the pages of the book of enmity between Russia and the US have taken the same step before. But's is modest, because "at the moment he is not" going to present a candidacy for elections.

The intervention of the former arms dealer in the LDPR assembly is his second public appearance since his release. The first was an interview on RT television with María Bútina, who entered politics three years ago after serving in a US prison for acting as an unlicensed foreign agent. She is a Duma deputy for the ruling United Russia party.

In that conversation, But showed his unwavering support for Putin (he assured that during these years he always had a photo of him in his cell) and his decision to intervene in Ukraine. "I fully support him," But said. “If there was an opportunity and I had the necessary skills, of course, I would volunteer,” he added.

Another case known for his arrival in politics is that of Andrei Lugovói, accused by the United Kingdom of poisoning in 2006 with radioactive polonium the former fugitive agent of the secret services Alexander Litvinenko. Russia refused to extradite him. Logovói is in the ranks of the LDPR and is a deputy.

Anna Chapman, the femme fatale of a ring of Russian sleeper agents exposed by the FBI in 2010, joined the pro-Kremlin youth movement The Young Guard after being traded that same year.