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Bout says he has difficulties in speaking Russian after years in US prison

Viktor Bout also said that the support of his next-of-kin, loved ones and friends, as well as knowing that "the Fatherland has not forgotten" him, helped him in prison

MOSCOW, December 15./TASS/. Russian national Viktor Bout, who has recently returned home after years in US captivity, says he experiences difficulties in communicating in Russian.

"You see, it was very difficult. Practically communication in the Russian language confined to phone calls, and they were very brief," Bout told journalists. "Indeed, I have some difficulty in speaking my native language," he said.

Bout also said that the support of his next-of-kin, loved ones and friends, as well as knowing that "the Fatherland has not forgotten" him, helped him in prison.

On December 8, Viktor Bout returned to Russia as a result of an agreement with the US to exchange him for American basketball player Brittney Griner, found guilty in Russia of drug smuggling.

Viktor Bout was detained in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 under a warrant issued by a local court at the behest of the US. He was charged with illegally supplying weapons to a rebel group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US. Bout was extradited to the United States two years later. In April 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in jail and slapped with a $15-million fine.

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