Freed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout said on Saturday he “wholeheartedly” supports Moscow’s so-called “military operation” in Ukraine and that if he had the opportunity and necessary skills, he would “certainly go as a volunteer.”Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” by his accusers, was released Thursday from US detention in a prisoner swap for US basketball star Brittney Griner.In the interview, he denied any connections with the Taliban and that he supplied arms to Afghanistan.I’m proud that I’m Russian and that our president is Putin.”The former Soviet military officer was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and provide material support to a terrorist organization.Bout, who had maintained his innocence, is believed to be in his 50s, with his age in dispute because of different passports and documents.Despite her testimony that she had inadvertently packed the cannabis oil found in her luggage, she was sentenced to nine years in prison in early August and moved to a penal colony in Mordovia in mid-November after losing her appeal."