One of the Kremlin’s slogans in its brutal invasion of Ukraine is “We don’t leave our people behind.” It implies that, in Ukraine, there are Russian speakers whose very existence is under threat and that only Putin and his loyal army (which includes mercenaries and “volunteers” recruited from prisons) can save them from extinction. In reality, Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine have endured the worst of Putin’s attacks, and the Russian Army almost always leaves their dead behind. As the hasty retreat of Russian forces in the past week has shown, Moscow even forgot to evacuate Ukrainian collaborators, leaving those in the newly liberated territories to face charges of treason from the Zelensky government.
In 9 cases out of 10, if Russia says that it won’t leave you behind, you’ve already been abandoned. But there is one man that Putin—and Russia—is ready to fight for. Meet Viktor Bout, an inmate at an Illinois prison who is widely believed to be the most successful gunrunner in modern history.
