Viktor Bout: Russia's released arms dealer joins ultranationalist party - BBC

Russia's arms trader Viktor Bout - nicknamed the "merchant of death" - has joined the pro-Kremlin ultranationalist LDPR party, pursuing his merchandise successful a high-profile US captive swap.

In a video posted online, LDPR person Leonid Slutsky thanked Bout, 55, for becoming a subordinate of "the champion governmental enactment successful today's Russia".

After an elaborate US sting, Bout was sentenced to 25 years successful jailhouse successful 2011.

Last week, helium was exchanged for US hoops prima Brittney Griner, 32.

Griner, 32, was arrested astatine a Moscow airdrome successful February for possessing cannabis lipid and past period she was sent to a penal colony.

Griner's agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told ESPN that connected Sunday, she picked up a hoops for the archetypal clip successful astir 10 months, starting her airy workout with a dunk.

The cause added that it did not needfully mean that the jock - who is presently successful the metropolis of San Antonio - would resume her sporting vocation astatine the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

In the LDPR video published connected Monday, Bout is seen lasting connected signifier unneurotic with Mr Slutsky and different starring enactment members.

Mr Slutsky said that Bout had spent "long years" successful prison, but "today helium is with us".

"We volition instrumentality each those who are successful occupation extracurricular our motherland," helium vowed.

Meanwhile, Bout said that for the clip being helium was not readying to tally successful immoderate elections, Russia's Ria Novosti quality bureau reports.

The LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) was founded successful the aboriginal 1990s by the precocious Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who gained notoriety for his outrageous comments - including repeated demands for Moscow to usage atomic weapons - and his eccentric behaviour.

A superior contender for powerfulness during the archetypal years successful the post-Soviet Russia, the enactment is present seen by galore arsenic loyal to the Kremlin connected cardinal issues, specified arsenic the full-scale penetration of Ukraine.

It is not the archetypal clip the LDPR has recruited high-profile figures astatine the centre of large planetary scandals.

In 2007, Russian information cause Andrei Lugovoi - wanted successful the UK connected suspicion of poisoning erstwhile Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko the twelvemonth earlier - besides joined the LDPR aft fleeing London. He is present a subordinate of the State Duma - the little enclosure of Russia's parliament.