Victor Bout. The True Story of the Arms Baron

In 2008, Russian citizen and entrepreneur Victor Bout was arrested by U.S. intelligence services as a result of an undercover operation conducted across three continents and culminating in Thailand. Bout was charged with conspiracy against America. During the two years Victor spent in a Thai prison, his fate was being decided amid a sharp diplomatic struggle between Russia and the U.S. After Bout's extradition to New York in 2010, he was kept in solitary confinement, subjected to psychological torture, pressured to cooperate with American intelligence services, and demanded to provide compromising material on Russian politicians. Refusing to betray his comrades and homeland resulted in Victor receiving a 25-year prison sentence, which he is still serving in the U.S. Newly analyzed facts about the true reasons for the U.S. pursuit of V. Bout, interviews with him, his relatives, and acquaintances, unique photographs from his family archive, letters from Victor in prison, and excerpts from the diary of his wife Alla formed the basis of a journalistic investigation into this high-profile case that became a major international scandal.