- Freed arms dealer Viktor Bout appeared to reverse his position on whether he'd fight in Ukraine.
- After being freed in exchange for Brittney Griner last December, Bout said he'd "readily volunteer."
- But he shied away after he was confronted during an interview on Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported.
The Russian arms dealer who was freed in a prisoner exchange for Brittney Griner late last year has walked back on earlier claims that he would volunteer to fight on the front line in Ukraine.
In an interview on Russian radio station Komsomolskaya Pravda Radio on Wednesday, Viktor Bout became evasive and irritable when reminded of an earlier statement about his willingness to fight, according to The Daily Beast.
Bout was speaking at length about his pride in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the interviewer cut in to relay a question from a listener, saying: "Let Bout prove his patriotism towards the Motherland by joining Wagner in Soledar," according to The Beast.
The listener went on to ask whether Bout had received an offer to join the troops of the Wagner Group, a mercenary army fighting on Russia's behalf. Earlier this week Wagner claimed to have captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, although independent assessments question the extent of its control.
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Brittney Griner has been freed from a Russia in a prisoner exchange. This is how her journey to basketball glory led her to become Vladimir Putin's prized political pawn.
- Brittney Griner has been freed, and is now in American custody after a prisoner swap with Russia.
- The American basketball had been moved to a Russian penal colony after she was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport in February.
- Before her wrongful detainment, Griner was en route to a historic, record-breaking basketball career.
Brittney Griner is free.
After being wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly a year, Griner was back in American custody on Thursday after a prisoner swap with Russia.
But before her February arrest — when officials at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage — the 6-foot-9 Houston native was best known for her incredible abilities on the basketball court.
From growing up in and around Houston, Texas, and discovering her basketball talent in early high school to becoming a NCAA hoops sensation and, eventually, a WNBA superstar well on her way to the Hall of Fame, Griner enjoyed a rapid and surreal rise to basketball glory.
But even more suddenly, her entire life was ripped away from her.
Here is the story of how a gangly Texan grew into a generational talent — and eventually became Vladimir Putin's prized bargaining chip.
According to The Beast, Bout said: "No, there were no offers to join the [private military company]. There again, you have to understand where you can be most useful, and which of your skills and knowledge would be handy."
Related video: Who Is Viktor Bout ? Russian Arms Dealer Known As 'Merchant of Death' (Newsweek)
The Wall Street Journal
DailymotionIt was a strong about-face from comments Bout made to Russian state TV only a month ago.
Back then, Bout told RT that: "If I could, I would share the skills I have and I would readily volunteer" to fight.
Bout was freed from US jail on December 9, in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, in a high-profile prisoner swap engineered by the Biden administration.
Bout attracted the nickname of "The Merchant of Death" over his prominent arms dealing operation in the 1990s, as Insider previously reported. He was arrested in a sting operation in 2008, and later convicted in the US of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
When freed he was serving a 25-year prison sentence, most recently at a federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, according to The New York Times.
Bout has loudly backed Russia's military in interviews since his release, and has joined the ultra-nationalist, pro-Kremlin Liberal Democratic Party, as Reuters reported.
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