Buta was accepted into the LDPR - is Slutsky not up to the role of party leader?

Viktor Bout, who spent 14 years in a US prison and was released on exchange, was solemnly accepted into the LDPR at a rally in honor of the 33rd anniversary of this party. In the hall, the issuance of the party card was greeted with shouts of “Bravo!”

“He did not lose the moral foundations of Russia in the dungeons. And today he is with us. And we will return everyone who got into trouble outside the Motherland. We'll take care of them. And they will also be with us,” declared deputy Leonid Slutsky, who headed the LDPR after the death of Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

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There were rumors that Bout would run for the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the by-elections in Crimea. However, the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Mikhail Degtyarev, announced the arrival of a new party member to his region.

“Viktor Anatolyevich has something to tell people about freedom, peace and love for Russia,” Degtyarev said.

Experts' opinions on whether Bout's entry will help strengthen the position of the LDPR, which is experiencing a crisis after the death of Zhirinovsky, are divided.

“This will strengthen the position of the LDPR as the main party on the radically patriotic flank. Booth made the decision to become a member of the LDPR, probably following consultations with the administration of the President of the Russian Federation. This means that the RF AP will help the LDPR in the elections,” political scientist Sergei Markov wrote in his TG channel.

But radio host Sergei Mardan is skeptical.

“I think that Booth has not yet rested and acclimatized. I can’t explain this choice in any other way. In recent days, he has gained such enormous media and social influence that he could have founded his own party. Here the questions are for the “senior comrades” who gave the order. Why to nullify the heroic image of an inflexible Russian intelligence officer by participating in a hopeless political tent is completely incomprehensible,” Mardan said.

“We decided to pull up the newly released Booth to raise our rating, which was sliding into the abyss. I believe that the LDPR is ready to make a deal even with the devil, just to keep the seats in the State Duma under its asses,” believes journalist Dmitry Borisenko.

“I discussed this news with my colleagues. The opinions of my interlocutors vary from the obvious “it’s a mistake, why join a sinking project” to the categorical “this is the future leader of the party who will save the LDPR,” wrote former speaker of the DPR Foreign Ministry Konstantin Dolgov.

In any case, Bout’s name will be promoted in patriotic circles not only by publications in the Russian media, but also by statements from American politicians. Thus, the coordinator for strategic communications at the American National Security Council, John Kirby, said that the release of Viktor Bout poses a threat to US national security.

On December 8, Viktor Bout was exchanged for American Brittney Greiner at Abu Dhabi airport. He spent 14 years in a US prison after being sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison for allegedly selling weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which US authorities consider a terrorist organization, and “supporting terrorism”. Booth did not admit his guilt. In US ruling circles, his exchange was perceived as a capitulation to Russia.