The infamous Russian “Merchant of Death” who was released from custody by the Biden administration in a 2022 prisoner swap is back in the arms trade game and selling to a Middle East-based terrorist group, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The arms dealer, Viktor Bout, was given back to Russia as part of a deal with Moscow for the release of American WNBA star Brittney Griner. Bout has since joined a Russian political party and won a seat in a local assembly in 2023, but has also been involved in at least one round of negotiations in August with the Houthis regarding millions worth of arms sales, a European security official and others with direct knowledge of the matter told the WSJ.
Houthi envoys arrived in Moscow in August for the negotiations under the guise of buying pesticides and vehicles, according to the sources who spoke to the WSJ. They met with Bout at the time, who had reportedly been brokering the arms sale.
The deal involved the sale of $10 million worth of small arms to the Houthis, including AK-74s, an upgraded version of the AK-47 assault rifle, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ. The Houthi envoys also discussed other weapon systems the Russians might be willing to sell, including antitank and antiaircraft missiles.
The sources familiar with the matter weren’t sure whether the Kremlin was directly involved in the negotiations, according to the WSJ. The deliveries of the AK-74 rifles could start as soon as this month.
An attorney who represented Bout in the U.S. refused to say whether the arms merchant had met with the Houthis.
“Viktor Bout has not been in the [arms] transportation business for over twenty years. But if the Russian government authorized him to facilitate the transfer of arms to one of America’s adversaries, it would be no different than the U.S. government sending arms and weapons of mass destruction to one of Russia’s adversaries as it has sent to Ukraine,” the attorney told the WSJ.
The Houthis have long been seeking Russian-made weapons, but it wasn’t clear where the weapons set for delivery were sourced from, according to the WSJ. The terrorist group has been involved in continued attacks against U.S., Israeli and Western forces in the Red Sea region since last year, launching missiles and rockets against merchant and naval vessels and shutting down shipping lanes throughout the region.
The current deal brokered doesn’t involve weapons the Biden administration is especially concerned about the terrorist group getting their hands on, such as missiles, but even a small arms transfer would be opposed by the U.S., the WSJ reported.
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