Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) welcomes the “king of war” recently released from American custody into its ranks
Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer freed on Thursday after 14 years in US custody in exchange for US basketball star Britney Greiner, has joined the Kremlin-loyal ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), its leader said on Monday.
In a video posted on Telegram, Leonid Slutsky, standing on stage next to Bout, said: “I want to thank Viktor Anatolyevich (Bout) for the decision he made and welcome him to the ranks of the best political party in today’s Russia “, Reuters quoted him as saying.
The Associated Press said Booth received his membership card at a party congress held Monday, Dec. 12, in Moscow.
Despite its name, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) since its founding in 1991 has maintained a hard-line, ultra-nationalist ideology that preaches a desire for Russia to reconquer the countries of the former Soviet Union, the agency noted.
Its founder and longtime leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky earned a reputation as a political showman with eccentric behavior before his death in April.
Although considered a serious contender for power in the 1990s, the LDPR has since played a subordinate role in Russia’s political system, as the token opposition to the ruling United Russia bloc, while supporting the Kremlin on most issues.
This party has a history of recruiting controversial figures in Russian politics. In 2007, Andrey Lugovoi, a former KGB agent wanted in Great Britain for the previous year’s murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, was elected to parliament precisely by the LDPR.
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