Viktor Bout will strengthen the “power background” of the Liberal Democratic Party

Russian businessman Viktor Bout, released from an American prison, became a member of the Liberal Democratic Party on December 12. The party card was presented to him by party leader Leonid Slutsky at a rally of liberal democrats taking place in Moscow. It is dedicated to the 33rd anniversary of the party – the first birthday that the Liberal Democratic Party celebrates without Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

“A courageous man who has become a symbol of the struggle for the principles, for the spiritual and moral foundations of today’s Russia, has been in the dungeons for many years. <...> I want to thank Viktor Anatolyevich [Бута] for the decision and accept him into the ranks of the LDPR party,” Slutsky said. According to the politician, Bout is ready to do everything he needs to help Donbass. His efforts will also be required within the framework of the State Duma. The Committee on International Affairs deals with issues of assistance to Russian citizens who find themselves in a difficult life situation abroad, and the experience of releasing Bout “will be useful,” Slutsky is sure.

December 8 Booth returned to Russia after a prisoner exchange with the American side at the Abu Dhabi airport. Basketball player Brittney Griner, in turn, flew from Russia to the United States, who was detained in February this year at Sheremetyevo after vape cartridges with hashish oil were found in her hand luggage. Before the exchange, Greiner and Booth were pardoned, they will not have to serve their sentences in their countries. In the United States, the Russian was convicted on charges of illegal arms trafficking and supporting terrorism.

At the LDPR rally, the businessman said that he was not going to put forward his candidacy in the elections (the State Duma will be re-elected in 2026), and thanked both Slutsky and Zhirinovsky for their help “in getting out of captivity in the United States.” Zhirinovsky stood up for Bout immediately after his arrest in 2008. In order to achieve the release of the Russian, the party leader met with the Thai ambassador to the Russian Federation, Supot Tirakaosan. “I witnessed what was happening, because I worked as the head of the apparatus of the deputy chairman of the State Duma Zhirinovsky,” Yaroslav Nilov, deputy head of the LDPR faction in the State Duma, wrote on his Telegram channel.

The LDPR is ideologically close to Bout, in addition, Slutsky “did a lot for his return,” Nilov told Vedomosti. “As an international [Слуцкий] took part in various processes and contacts,” he said.

“I think that inviting Viktor Bout to the ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party is absolutely the right decision. Our party has always been distinguished by special patriotism, love for the Motherland and a clearly articulated, tough stance towards the policy of the Anglo-Saxons in relation to our country,” State Duma deputy Andrei Lugovoy told Vedomosti. In his opinion, “Bout has become a symbol of hatred for Russia”, an example of a person in respect of whom “all laws and norms were nullified.” “Over the past 15 years, he courageously withstood enormous pressure, overcame all obstacles and returned to his homeland. We are obliged to support such people,” Lugovoi said.

Lugovoy himself is a former employee of the state security bodies of Russia, whom British law enforcement officers accused in the assassination attempt on the former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, also quite unexpectedly came to the Liberal Democratic Party. In the State Duma elections in 2007, he became the second after Zhirinovsky in the LDPR list.

“It’s Victor’s decision [Бута], – State Duma deputy Maria Butina (United Russia) told Vedomosti, – I think that he will undoubtedly strengthen the LDPR team. This is a very important element of the work – to help those who are in trouble. He will be able to help those who, like him, find themselves in a difficult life situation. The political biography of Butina is somewhat similar to the story of Bout. She was released from a US prison in October 2019 after 18 months in prison. As part of a deal with investigators, Butina pleaded guilty in a US court to conspiracy to promote Russian interests in Washington. In 2021, she was included in the party list of United Russia in the elections to the State Duma and was elected from the Kirov region.

The motivation of the Liberal Democratic Party when accepting Bout into the party is understandable, says Alexei Makarkin, first vice-president of the Center for Political Technologies: Slutsky is not a charismatic politician, he is less famous than Zhirinovsky, and he needs some [новые] ideas and names. “The party still has an important resource – its brand, but it is impossible to hold out on it alone for a long time,” he said.

Makarkin’s opinion is also shared by State Duma deputy Alexander Yushchenko (KPRF). According to him, the entry of a new politician into the ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party is “rather a political technique.” “The LDPR has always been a party based on the outrageousness of Zhirinovsky, and it kept on that. It is clear that today they will look for some media steps that, as they think, will give them a certain electoral capacity,” he said.

Yushchenko does not regret that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was not the first to offer Bout membership in its ranks: they are formed based on “support for the party program.” “In personnel policy, we proceed from the idea of ​​strengthening the party politically, ideologically, and not the momentary popularity of this or that person,” he stressed.

The appearance of Bout was supposed to solve two problems, Makarkin believes: to find a new person and an informational reason, as well as to compensate for the negative information from the refusal [бизнесмена Евгения] Prigogine [прийти на мероприятие]”. On December 7, the LDPR press service reported that a number of well-known people were invited to the party rally, including the organizer of the Wagner PMC, Prigozhin. In response, he stated that he treated Slutsky with “disrespect.”

The LDPR remains committed “to people with a power background”, they help the party attract its electorate, says Yevgeny Minchenko, president of the Minchenko Consulting communications holding. The fact that Bout joined the party is a demonstration that this trend continues. The new politician “has high recognition, but very little content, here [его партийная карьера] will depend on the professionalism of the political technologists who will work with him,” Minchenko said.