VIKTOR BOUT - LORD of WAR. When the real story is way better than the movie

Victor boot is the most famous arms dealer in the world this fact is greatly facilitated by the film Lord of War starring Nicholas Cage which skyrocketed boot's popularity despite many scenes in the film being fictitious or embellished boot really did do business with the most cruel and bloody people on Earth he worked with Al-Qaeda and with the Taliban ran military equipment for the Libyan leader muamar gathi supplied weapons to probably all African countries where civil wars were fought and did not shy away from transporting weapons to all the belligerent involved people died because of people

like him and he was dubbed The Merchant of death in American law enforcement circles boot was second only to Osama Bin Laden while in Russia on the contrary he was considered an innocent victim of American politics and almost a national hero he was hunted by numerous International National Intelligence agencies but unimaginably always managed to escape so how did he get caught if the movie had ended the same way as Victor boot's real story did then fiction could have been easily added to the genre tags of the movie right beside drama and crime only this fiction

is real which is the scary [Music] thing the Mysteries that would shroud the entire life of Victor boot begin with his very birth officially It is believed that he was born on January 13th 1967 but some sources claim that the real date of birth was 7 years earlier in 1960 and his original surname was not boot but bukov what is certain is the place of his birth the capital of Tajikistan Duan it is unlikely that Victor's parents imagined who their son would become in the future but from childhood the boy had a passion for two

things learning languages and the military until high school he actively studied English and while in high school he decided to study a rather atypical combo of languages German and Esperanto and Consolidated his interest in military Affairs by graduating from the suvarov military school after receiving his diploma boot tried to enroll at mgimo University but failed K and was drafted into the army after serving for 2 years on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR in sakuraa boot once again decided to try his hand at studying and risked entering the extremely prestigious USSR Military Institute of foreign

languages located in Moscow the second attempt at admission was successful it's not surprising that boot chose to study to be a military translator what was surprising was the main language of this study Portuguese albeit not the most popular language it quickly came in handy when boot was sent on a business trip to mosm in Angola where they just needed a person with a knowledge of Portuguese traveling to different African countries boot proved himself to be excellent in his tasks and gained immensely important connections that he would use in the future for his transportation of goods

another important event was meeting his future wife Allah in Africa whom he would marry a little later in 1992 the name of his wife will come up more than a few times in our story having completed his African tour with the rank of first lieutenant boot left the service and began to think about his own business fortunately he now had experience working abroad and most importantly the necessary acquaintances with influential people shortly after the USSR began to collapse creating a mess in in almost all posts Soviet countries the country was divided by anyone who wanted

a slice politicians oligarchs bandits in the film Lord of War what Nicholas Cage's character said was true stating that after the collapse everyone was trying to grab their piece of the pie and as such there was presently no new stable power the real Victor boot was of the same mind and decided to also take part in the circus in 1992 Victor opened a company that was supposed to deal with civilian air freight transportation to carry out the business idea he needed airplanes so he calmly bought three for $120,000 when he was later asked where the

25-year-old former officer got so much money Victor replied that he never had investors and that finding money was never a problem right it's only a measly 120 Grand as he was starting out boot chose South Africa as his home base but very soon changed it to the United Arab Emirates where his company settled at the shaja airport business quickly took off with boot transporting everything in anything and making decent money in the process he bought fresh flowers from South Africa which cost $2 and sent them to the Emirates and Saudi Arabia where they allegedly cost

$100 in one flight Victor transported 20 tons of flowers he also transported exotic perishable fruits spare parts imported equipment and many other household goods his Planes carried French and Belgian peacekeepers and legitimate military supplies even the U didn't shy away from using the services of his company to deliver humanitarian Aid boot's Auto and air fleet was constantly expanding and his company's employees were becoming becoming more and more numerous everything was fine money flowed like a river and everyone was happy but something would soon happen that would cause Victor's activities to gain the attention of the

international intelligence [Music] agencies Afghanistan 1995 a civil war is Raging the Taliban including many jihadists who fought the Soviet Union in 1989 are rushing towards kabell president Rabani is purchasing weapons aerosan boots transportation company headquartered in the Arab city of shaja volunteers to solve the problem a huge IL 76 filled with Albanian weapons and ammunition is sent to Afghanistan It Is crewed by seven Russian Pilots problems begin over Kandahar a Taliban plane forces the crew Commander to land the IL 76 at the Kandahar airport the car cargo goes to the insurgents the pilots are taken

hostage a little more than a year later the pilots are given a chance to escape and they successfully take advantage of it they secretly enter the plane start it and fly away from the Taliban the miraculous Rescue of the pilots is celebrated throughout Russia the country is in desperate need of Heroes all newspapers in the world right about the escape from Kandahar but none of the journalists can track down the owner of the plane the mysterious businessman from shaja some call him Victor boot others Victor bulakin or Vadim amanov there are no photographs of him

there are only vague rumors about connections with the KGB and a transportation Empire due to this high-profile incident many intelligence agencies around the world became interested in boot and soon stunning facts about the man began to surface it turned out that transport reporting flowers and working with the UN along with the rest of it were just distractions in reality Boot made his money by selling weapons and military equipment and he did it on such a scale that he was immediately called one of the world's most prolific arms dealers during the Cold war between the East

and the West both sides pumped out ludicrous quantities of weapons in case a real war broke out fortunately the war never happened but it did mean that numerous weapons warehouses remained inactive of course another military conflict could have started at any time with any one of the other countries but few people cared after the collapse of the USSR the Soviets and Allied countries had so many weapons that they had more than enough for several military conflicts there was simply too much of it which is why it was decided to clean up the warehouses properly allowing

mindboggling sums of money to be made many countries in Asia and Africa needed military-grade weapons for Victor boot a former officer who knew multiple languages had been on a lengthy business trip in Africa and had connections with influential people was perfectly set up to take the role of the one who would transport these weapons the key word being transport Victor said that he never purchased or sold the weapons but simply transported them even if this were true which is hard to believe it is worth looking at who he was transporting these weapons to it's quite

the list his first known order was in 1992 delivering weapons for the Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan Boot made initial contacts with President Rabani and boot's transport plane began appearing regularly at government controlled airports delivering ammunition and Small Arms from Albania and other Eastern European countries although many muhai leaders remained staunchly anti-russian even after the collapse of the USSR rani's government took a more pragmatic position and welcomed a businessman who could deliver boot personally visited Afghanistan several times enjoying Mountain hunting trips that his hosts arranged for him to establish a good business relationship

boot's Services were vital for aan as in the early years of his government he had little ability to purchase military goods from other sources having established a partnership with the president of Afghanistan boot supplied him weapons for a long time but eventually the hunger for money drove the enterprising Victor to impertinently start supplying weapons to the president's direct enemy the Taliban in 1995 in Kandahar precisely at the moment when the seven Pilots were captured by the Taliban boot according to rumors managed to make a deal with mulah Omar the founder of the Taliban and earned

about $50 million by supplying them weapons it was a partnership that lasted from 1995 to 2001 until American troops entered Afghanistan since late 1996 boots Transport Aircraft have regularly flown from sharja to airports in Afghanistan delivering Small Arms ammunitions satellite phones as well as refrigerators food and other commercial Goods but this was just the beginning of much larger operations the growing International isolation of the Islamic movement due to its reluctance to extradite Osama Bin Laden its poor human rights record and a host of other factors gradually made boot an important partner for the Taliban simply

because he was willing to take risks and could deliver on what was needed ironically as boot strengthened his business ties with the Taliban he continued to work for the oued Rabani government he continued to transport military supplies all the way until the former president and his army lost their last viable Airfield thus boot without experiencing any guilt continued transporting weapons for both sides he was everyone's friend he was tolerated as there were no other viable Alternatives nobody other than boot could deliver the necessary goods and he transported everything from rounds to kalashnikov's to help helicopters

and even tanks even during the most successful years Gun Runners had little sway in terms of the war effort they were content with dealing with metaphoric crumbs of the pie but not Victor boot he could build and topple entire nations literally in addition to Afghanistan Victor loved Africa and worked there using a similar model transporting weapons for absolutely anyone willing to pay he transported weapons to milit in Rwanda and violated arms embargos in Sierra leyon the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Algeria where he sold weapons to both government forces and rebels fighting them it

was the same story as with the Taliban and the president of Afghanistan boot for example took orders simultaneously from the angolan government and from the Unita rebels fighting said government he could have easily dispatched a plane for mbutu sesi SEO the overthrown dictator of zier even though he supplied weapons to the dictator's enemies boot did not experience any moral Scruples for him this was just business included in the list of boot's many clients were also the Colombian gorillas from the FC Libyan dictator muamar Gaddafi and that same crazy president from the film Lord of War

the ruler of Liberia Charles Taylor this is one part of the film that was true to life Taylor was indeed incredibly cruel thanks to boot's dealings Civil Wars lasted longer and human losses and destruction massively increased which was significantly more profitable for him so how did boot manage to transport weapons for so long without getting caught Victor tried to do everything relatively cleanly and quietly without leaving any traces or attracting unnecessary attention on paper he had several Airlines in different countries and the aircraft according to documents were constantly transferred from one company to another boot

constantly changed the names of his companies and forged papers nobody could catch him his business was so well hidden by front companies that even the US government later unwittingly contracted two of his companies to supply Goods to US troops in Iraq when transporting weapons he falsified all the necessary certificates so though according to the documents it turned out that the weapons were going to law-abiding citizens as a rule to the government of the country for example to transport weapons to the rebel Army in Angola which was subject to sanctions on the supply of weapons boot

took the weapons to Togo the location of the official customer according to the papers along the way he stopped in Angola unloaded weapons and returned to Togo although there were 4,500 km between the states according to the papers several dozen flights were made to Togo and a large amount of ammunition and other weapons were received even though the country was not at war with anyone but how did boots planes fly from Togo to Angola without being detected by radar systems simply put few African countries back then had Radars that could detect movement of Airborne objects

thus boot calmly flew all around Africa without anyone no noticing him and if he did manage to get caught he would simply invite them to take part in the profits he transported Frozen chickens beer and a plethora of other goods from Europe and hid AK-47s cartridges and other weapons in the boxes boot's partner Richard shackley once admitted that getting around International sanctions is easier than buying a burger at McDonald's it is worth giving them their due however both Boot and his team were truly professionals and experts in their field as a rule his customers did

not have the money to pay for the goods so boot took diamonds or prohibited substances as payment which he resold in Europe and Latin America it was assumed that over the 7 years the businessman laundered about $300 million but no matter how secretly and cleanly boot worked such activities could not remain hidden [Music] forever it's not not the weapons that kill people it's the people who use them that do the killing a justification that would later be used by Victor the same people he provided weapons for attacked British soldiers in Africa so the minister of

State for Africa in Britain's foreign office sounded the alarm it wasn't just the attacks but the fact that Africans constantly had modern weapons it was clear that someone was supplying weapons to the African countries but who truthfully Victor bout had long been on the radar of many countries and incident such as the hijacking of a plane in Kandahar or the attack on British soldiers only Drew more attention to the Russian businessman in the summer of 1999 faced with numerous conflicts in West and central Africa the United States National Security Council authorized electronic surveillance of government

and militia leaders in war zones such as Congo Liberia and Sierra Leon the US compared transcripts of wiretapped telephone conversations with us satellite imagery and with field reports from British spies on the ground there were a lot of documents but there was no connection or pattern among them until finally astute analysts noticed that every conflict had something in common Victor boot the name appeared in numerous variations and always in one of three contexts aircraft Diamond Transportation or arm shipment the chief expert on African Affairs at the National Security Council whose staff uncovered the boot connection

emailed her NSC colleagues with the following words who is this guy pay close attention to this he's everywhere soon a real Manhunt began it was a tough time for boot investigations were launched the agencies began their work in 1999 the popular newspaper the guardian stated that Victor's air fleet of 30 aircraft there were actually around 50 was transporting weapons and this was far from the only and not even the loudest publication where his name would show up a year later Victor's name appeared in the reports of the United Nations security Council and the United States

Department of State where he was mentioned as a supplier of weapons and ammunition bypassing un sanctions in particular to Angola where the Civil War raged on and in 200 1 after the events of September 11 boot became the second most important Public Enemy of America right after Osama Bin Laden us authorities learned that boot collaborated with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda which was directly involved in the terrorist attacks his 1990s dealings with the Taliban led the Los Angeles Times to dub him in 2002 quoting a former US government official who called him the Donald Trump or

Bill Gates of the arms trade however some military analysts claimed that the US had no real evidence of guilt and just in case simply decided to eliminate a potential competitor in the armed Supply Market in 2002 Belgium put the Russian on the international Wanted list on suspicion of diamond smuggling and money laundering and the UN imposed a ban on his movements by this time Victor was already in Russia and understood perfectly well that if he ever left the country he could have easily not returned and yet in 2003 he needed to get to Athens on

business so he secretly flew there on a private jet the secret Services picked up that a Russian businessman planned a flight to Greece they were waiting for him at the airport to arrest him and take him into custody however a problem arose boot flew to Athens from mova but halfway there the plane suddenly changed course and disappeared appear hearing again an hour and a half later the plane landed in Athens but Victor was not on the plane no one knew who exactly told him that an ambush awaited him but it was clear that boot had

patrons in the Russian government at the very beginning of his weapons career they said that they would protect him and I must say they kept their word but protect him from what Victor claimed that in his life he didn't do anything that he could worry about and had to hide but besides him few people shared his Viewpoint in 2005 the whole world learned about Victor boot when the film Lord of War was released boot became the prototype for the main character played by Nicholas Cage although many details were changed or made up entirely in the

film The general idea of boot's actions was preserved both in the film and reality he transported huge amounts of weapons to absolutely anyone who was willing to pay in 2006 US President George W bush issued a decree freezing boots accounts and the assets of companies associated with his name the president was confident that Victor intervened in the armed conflict in the Congo which jeopardized the entire policy of the United States due to these sanctions boot lost about $17 million and yet he was still free and how do you catch a man who almost never leaves

his country and has connection at the highest levels of government of said country by 2007 The Drug Enforcement Administration had developed a plan to lure boot out of Russia with an arms deal that would be difficult to refuse and Victor swallowed the bait hook line and sinker the operation was incredibly complex so everything was planned to Perfection the agents found a former colleague and Confidant of boot named Andrew sman from Tanzania he became became the key to capturing the Russian businessmen an undercover agent allegedly presenting himself as a member of the famous revolutionary armed forces

of Colombia contacted sman and proposed a meeting at which he described in full detail what weapons and equipment he needed after the meeting boot's partner met with Victor and told him about the meeting and what the Colombians wanted boot liked the deal for several reasons firstly it was a massive order promising millions of dollars in profit secondly boot knew that the FC gorillas had a lot of money since they had long been involved in the drug trade finally the deal would be supervised by his longtime partner and he trusted him after some time Boot and

the Colombians were supposed to meet in Romania but Victor refused to fly there considering this country not the safest place for him so then he was offered Thailand and the Russian agreed to this option when po potential buyers told him the weapons could be used to kill American Pilots boot responded we have the same enemy Weeks Later boot was on his way to Bangkok thinking he would be meeting with farc officials to discuss shipping what prosecutors said was an arsenal of military grade weapons to attack American helicopters in Colombia during a March 2008 meeting in

a bangcock hotel conference room boot told the DEA informants posing as farc officials that he could air dropped the arms in Colombia and acknowledged that the weapons could be used to kill Americans after listening in on the meeting tha Police and DEA agents burst into the room and arrested boot the Russian businessman never expected such a turn of events he didn't see anything fishy to him it seemed that it would be a successful and clear-cut deal it seems that during the arrest an image instantly occurred in boot's head of what awaited him next the game

is over boot said boot's future wasn't clear but it wasn't hopeless either he hoped that his influential friends from Russia would once again cover him and he even directly addressed the president but getting the businessman out of prison wasn't easy given that the Americans did not want to leave boot in a tii prison and tried their best to extradite him to the states if this were to happen the Russian authorities would also be at risk as to mitigate his sentence boot could have potentially spoken out and given up his comrades on the other hand why

should have Victor worried according to his wife boot went to Colombia to take Tango lessons and he went to Thailand to sign a contract to build a plant to produce disposable syringes for people in need in African countries boot's bodyguard lied in the same vein stating that they arrived in Thailand to relax and visit several medical facilities such words were more likely to give boot a chuck than to help but still the Thai authorities were in no hurry to extradite the Russian to the United States and were actively negotiating with the Russian government the price

for his exchange could have been the country's former prime minister tuin Shinawatra who was accused of corruption in his homeland and according to some sources often visited Moscow but Russia negotiated way too slowly and passively and did not take decisive action to return boot to his homeland so as a result 2 and a half years after his arrest he was extradited to the US America managed to put pressure on Thailand which had been refusing them all this time the Russian foreign minister was so outraged that he called it the result of us political pressure and

an example of blatant Injustice now Boot had to fear not only that he might spend the rest of his life in an American prison but also that he might be killed Victor was certainly privy to Serious secrets and knew a lot of things that could have destroyed many influential people Thai authorities feared an attempt on the life of the dangerous potential Witness by the Russian special services so the businessman was led to the plane in a bulletproof vest and helmet surrounded by numerous guards taii citizens who are on the street and witness the operation with

their own eyes shouted and asked boot for an autograph aboard Victor's flight to the US he was accompanied by six senior DEA officials who were in the region knowing the magnitude of boot's problems the American intelligence Services tried to win the Russian over to their side according to him the Americans offered him cooperation promised green cards and a comfortable existence for him and his family they guaranteed him that after the end of his prison term he would be able to stay in the United States and live like an ordinary American his lawyer voiced such proposals

to him every day in return the United States demanded that Victor testify against the Russian leadership in response boot stated that he didn't possess any secrets of the Russian state or its leaders and didn't work with Russian national companies or government agencies at all according to him from 1993 to 2001 he owned a legal business in the field of international air transportation and had nothing to do with the Russian authorities boot chose to not give up his side even if their credibility was damaged after the authorities were unable to convince tyin to extradite Victor to

Russia the states appreciated his patriotism before the trial Victor spent about 15 months in complete isolation in a solitary cell without windows with round-the-clock artificial lighting and without a Fresh Air Supply the bed table and chair were all made of concrete walk walking was not allowed at least those were the words of his wife on the conditions he was kept in and even if it seems reasonable to believe given her previous statements it is difficult to take her at her word in October of 2011 the court began proceedings against boot he was accused on four

counts at once charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and government employees as well as agreements to supply weapons to terrorists and sell anti-aircraft missile systems Victor pleaded not guilty on all counts meanwhile in Russia protests took place in support of boot the Trade union of Russian citizens held pickets outside the US Consulate building demanding a fair trial some of the rallies were supported by the businessman's wife Allah in November 2011 the jury unanimously returned a guilty verdict on all counts the prosecutor's office insisted on life imprisonment but in April 2012 the court sentenced the businessman

to 25 years in prison those who were on boot's side said that the Americans didn't sentence a real person but their fantasy of Victor stating that they found Nicholas Cage guilty and yet 25 years for a man who is considered by many to be one of the most dangerous people on Earth whose cargo killed innumerable people is a real Stroke of Luck they're going to try to put me away for Life boot said before sentencing but I will return to Russia don't know when but I'm still young he did eventually come back Victor boot became

perhaps the most famous Russian convict in an American prison the Russian media followed his every move and did not deny themselves the pleasure of writing about him given the opportunity there were articles about him preparing alcohol in an American prison there were reports that he was experiencing a high fever there were even reports about him not being able to eat hot dog dogs or hamburgers since he was a vegetarian and never getting the chance to eat his favorite strawberries in prison the Russian authorities could not ignore boot's popularity and at any opportunity tried to return

him to his homeland moreover Victor clearly dispelled all doubts about himself keeping his mouth shut and not giving out any compromising information about his countrymen to the Americans and yet the negotiations were similar to the negotiations with Thailand passive unhurried and without any decisive steps in addition the states did not want to give up boot without receiving at a minimum an equivalent exchange it was proposed to exchange him for 15 Americans serving sentences in Russian prisons but the United States refused the deal a year later it was reported that boot could be released in exchange

for Paul wheen who was convicted in Russia for Espionage but the deal also broke off in February of 2022 an American basketball player Britney Griner who had been playing for the Russian Club ummc at cinberg since 2014 was detained at a Moscow airport cartridges containing less than a gram of cannabis oil were found in her luggage and if while in the States this would have been a minor violation in Russia this could have resulted in a serious prison sentence Griner Justified herself by saying that she bought the oil legally that she was in a hurry

to pack her things and simply did not check her luggage and that it was prescribed as part of the treatment of chronic pain and other conditions but no one listened to her about a third of such cases in Russia ended in suspended sentences and the most severe sentences did not exceed 5 years but it was obvious that the Russian government had its own plans for Griner formally she became a hostage at the trial she was convicted to the fullest extent of the the law the basketball player was sentenced to 9 years in prison she became

an ideal Target for exchange for Victor boot who is now needed by the Russian authorities more than ever but why now the war in Ukraine showed that Russia was far from doing well in terms of its weapons and boot was exactly the person who could take care of that in return for boot America wanted Britney Griner and Paul wheelan whose return the US had long sought but Russia chose a tough position and insisted that it would only exchange for Griner it was absurd The Merchant of death one of the most dangerous arms smugglers in the

world in exchange for a basketball player who just liked to smoke weed what about other American prisoners serving time in Russia under Trump and Obama this exchange would certainly have not taken place but Biden who is under enormous pressure from sports stars and various minor minorities chose a different position and agreed boot serving time in prison probably thought it was an April Fool's joke Paul Wan's family and supporters were devastated it was a slap in the face to all those who suffered from boots crimes and the work that was spent on his capture the states

argued that it was either this exchange or no exchange at all on the other hand America showed that it did not abandon its own citizens although in fact almost any state abandons its people it's just that when the whole world starts talking about a particular prisoner it becomes inconvenient to abandon them and at that point it's a matter of national Prestige the former New York City federal judge who sentenced boot stated he's done enough time for what he did in this case The Exchange took place on December 8th 2022 at Abu Dhabi airport before getting

into the car that would take her to the plane Griner said good goodbye to her prison guards when leaving the prison one of the wardens asked if Griner was planning on coming back to which the basketball player nodded to get the warden to screw off but then the warden added come back anytime it looked like a joke or rather like George Orwell's most famous novel The Russian propaganda built the image of boot as an innocently convicted man Victor boot was transported to Russia on a luxury plane and was greeted almost as a national hero soon

he began giving interviews and said that he supported what his country was doing in Ukraine and that he himself would volunteer if given the opportunity and skills these were the words said by a professional pilot his answer is understandable however as being a political figure is much more profitable and safer soon after his release one of the popular Russian political parties nominated boot as a candidate for Deputy of the legislative assembly of one of the regions the man who supplied weapons to the viest people on Earth went into politics got promoted and now instead of

prison will sit in the state Duma even though the people did not elect him there although as many Russians say half of our politicians have similar or even worse backgrounds his connections even if has now been many years will help Russia obtain the necessary weapons which boot himself once took out of the country but it seems that Victor boot cares little about any moral code he believes that if it weren't for him someone else would sell weapons and he's right boot never worked alone and there are people who at a minimum are no better than

him puppeteers who commit monstrous acts with the assistance of people like him Victor boot is the necessary [Music] evil [Music] yeah