Bout made the remarks in a video interview with Kremlin-controlled TV community RT. He was interviewed by Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights enthusiast-turned TV persona who now works for the community.
In the interview, he denied any connections with the Taliban and that he provided arms to Afghanistan.
When requested if he had a portrait of President Vladimir Putin in his jail cell, Bout mentioned:
“Yes, always. Why not? I’m proud that I’m Russian and that our president is Putin.”
The former Soviet army officer was serving a 25-year jail sentence within the United States on fees of conspiring to kill Americans, purchase and export anti-aircraft missiles, and supply materials help to a terrorist organisation.
Bout, who had maintained his innocence, is believed to be in his 50s, along with his age in dispute due to totally different passports and paperwork.
Griner, 32, returned to the United States early Friday after being launched from custody in an alternate for a world arms seller.
She was “in good spirits” and “incredibly gracious,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby advised CNN.
Griner – who had performed within the low season for a Russian ladies’s basketball workforce – was arrested on medicine fees at an airport within the Moscow area in February. Despite her testimony that she had inadvertently packed the hashish oil present in her baggage, she was sentenced to 9 years in jail in early August and moved to a penal colony in Mordovia in mid-November after shedding her enchantment.
The households of Griner and Whelan had urged the White House to safe their launch, together with by way of prisoner alternate if vital.
Putin visits bridge broken throughout bomb assault
