[Regnum] Viktor Bout, a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Ulyanovsk Region, called the publication in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that he allegedly participated in negotiations with the Yemeni Houthis on arms supplies a hoax.
The WSJ article noted that the talks took place in Moscow in August and resulted in an agreement to supply the Houthis with AK-74 assault rifles. The purpose of this article is to raise the publication's rating, Bout said in an interview with Izvestia.
"In the absence of significant media personalities, American media outlets are using the brand of "arms baron" that they once promoted, known to the masses, and my name. And it is clear that all this is being done in order to attract more public attention to their publication and raise the publication's ratings, which have apparently sagged," Bout said.
He also noted that the article, whose title mentioned Vladimir Putin, was published on the Russian president's birthday, which is hardly a coincidence. The WSJ has become a biased publication, and the episode with the publication about the Houthis on the president's birthday could be mentioned in a fictional series that is currently being prepared in Russia, Booth added.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, previously noted that the Kremlin had studied this WSJ publication and was inclined to classify it as fake or informational attacks on Russian deputies.
Bout returned to Russia in December 2022 following a prisoner swap with the United States. American authorities had previously sentenced him to 25 years in prison for allegedly intending to engage in arms trafficking and supporting terrorism. In September 2023, Bout was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Ulyanovsk Region from the LDPR.
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Peskov calls reports of Bout's involvement in selling weapons to Houthis fake
Reports about the participation of Ulyanovsk Legislative Assembly deputy Viktor Bout in selling weapons to Yemeni Houthis are fake, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on October 7.
He reported that the Kremlin had become familiar with the publication on this topic.
“We are inclined to classify this as a fake or information attack on our elected representatives,” Peskov said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Bout, who was previously convicted in the United States on arms trafficking charges, allegedly participated in negotiations with Yemen's Houthis. The talks were said to have taken place in Moscow in August and resulted in an agreement to deliver AK-74 assault rifles to Yemen.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, Bout returned to Russia in December 2022 after a prisoner exchange with the United States. American authorities had previously sentenced the Russian businessman to 25 years in prison for intending to engage in arms trafficking and supporting terrorism. Bout was pardoned in Russia. In September 2023, he was elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Ulyanovsk Region from the LDPR party.
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