“The most difficult thing was the inability to communicate with loved ones”: Viktor Bout in an interview with RT - about the years of imprisonment in the USA

- How are you today?

It's only been a few days, how are you feeling?

“You know, I feel just a happy person.

- Without any conditions?

- Yes.

Has happiness come?

— It was.

You see, happiness either exists, or it simply does not exist.

And nothing can change for you to have it.

Circumstances are only part of it.

You have to have something inside to be happy.

It does not depend on where you are, how you are.

Of course, there are difficulties.

- Is there no anger?

- At some stage, you need to understand that anger will destroy you.

This is the poison that, if not used right away... Anger exists for a certain mobilization of forces at some very right moment, so that you can do something like that.

When it is stretched out in time, you realize that anger directed against someone, anger first of all, will destroy you.

I am not saying that one should not answer, one should not punish for what was done, but one should not carry this anger and this anger in one's heart.

You have to be able to forgive.

And only then I realized that before that it was very difficult to understand why, for example, in our tradition, especially in the church tradition, so much attention is paid to forgiveness.

Before that: “Well, yes, forgiveness.

But how, and where?

And when you yourself go through this and understand this anger of yours... If you cannot understand your anger correctly, direct it correctly, it turns out that the energy of this anger is the same energy that allows you to become happy.

It just has to go through the right channels.

Don't destroy you.

Because you're in those situations where your anger won't let you out just through a hole.

“But there were some terrible moments… Forgive me for taking you back there again.

What was the hardest thing?

“Now it’s hard to say what was the most difficult.

The most difficult was the lack of opportunity to communicate with loved ones for a long time.

One call per month.

When the lawyers came, they had their own problems.

Namely, the lack of communication with friends, with loved ones, with loved ones.

It was the hardest thing that could have happened.

You spent a lot of time in solitary confinement...

Yes, about three years.

- How?

What helped you get through this?

For me it was the worst, I was there for only four months.

- I somehow came across an interesting book in which there was a very interesting postulate that the conditions are basically neutral and our attitude makes them either very negative or very positive.

That is, as the English say, it's either tormentor or your mentor ("it's a tormentor or a teacher." -

).

It is our choice to make these conditions here, look at them as neutral...

What were you doing all this time in the cell?

- I'll tell you now.

You were brought into this cell and locked up.

The sound of this key in the door - and such a ringing silence, and this poisonous light of fluorescent lamps ... For example, in New York they have already closed this MCC prison, in this Tenth South block (10 South. - RT),

only six cells in which even those small windows were sandblasted so that you could not see anything.

It's not just deprivation that you can't see anything.

You know, this color that they paint in, "white night" in Russian, and this gray one - and everything in this is specially faded.

After all, who created the prison system in the United States?

Nazis.

Exported under the program

"Rivet", Paperclip (Operation Paperclip

.

It was they who, after their experiments, wrote: "That's how you have to break and force people to achieve what they want from them."

And that's when the door slammed shut - boom!

- such silence.

Yes, there was panic.

Yes, it was very difficult.

Yes, it was: “What now?

What, no way?

And the only way out was to say: “Well, I’ll panic, but what will change because of this?

Will I bang my head against the door?

I will shout something, prove?

It won't help."

And where, apparently, we have this genetic memory, something in the blood, something in the traditions ... I don’t even know where it came from, it just rose and somehow happened by itself.

I just let my heart do what it wanted me to do.

I didn't just lie down and stare at the ceiling.

I said, "Yes, guys."

I started my day, you know what?

For about five minutes, as soon as I woke up, I laughed wildly, laughed hysterically.

At first, it is very difficult to force yourself to laugh in such a situation.

And then you realize what's going on.

Firstly, you warm up, and if you laugh for five minutes, you just have a hormonal system - you just can’t be depressed all day.

Also on russian.rt.com “We don’t leave our own, right?”: Viktor Bout in an interview with RT - about being in an American prison and returning home

When you start your day with the fact that you just laugh for five minutes, even at yourself, even at this situation.

Like Hindus, Buddhists: that the whole world is a game.

And now you begin to understand the concept that this is a game.

When you treat it like a game, everything turns upside down for you.

And with this approach, you are already starting: “Okay, this one has come.”

And you smile, laugh, and this turns them on the most when they see that you don’t sit, don’t pull out your hair, don’t scratch your face, don’t try to write blood on the walls.

You know all these prison options.

You are always very polite.

Yes, they won’t turn off the light for you, or they won’t bring you food for the whole day, because then he comes and opens it ... because only the lieutenant has the key.

Even the guard can't open it and give you food.

And the lieutenant is busy, you sit all day without food, and then in the evening he brings you three, says: "Sorry" - and puts it in.

And it’s okay if it was food ... This is just again from the experience of the Nazis, everything is specially thought out to the smallest detail, there are no accidents.

- What do they feed?

- The menu is standard in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it does not change.

All these almost 12 years that I've spent... Wednesday is a hamburger with french fries fried to death.

Thursday is chicken, a piece of "Bush legs" that smells like you want ...

When I talked for a long time with the heads of these services, they told me: “What do you not like?”

I say: “Excuse me, but would you eat it yourself?”

They say: “Well, what don’t you like?”

“It's just inedible.

Not even human."

I say: “You understand, I spent two years in a Thai prison, how terrible, dirty, crowded it was, but at least they gave you any food that you can order.”

They had no problem if I wanted something.

Alla (wife of Viktor Bout. -

) ordered me, she literally asked: “What do you want?”

Here ... imagine when you haven't tried garlic, dill, parsley, strawberries for ten years.

It's all cumulative.

I was scared when I was alone, at some stage I lost interest in food.

I began to lose weight terribly - with this attitude, it somehow went away by itself.

I began to force myself to eat, through force.

I realized that if I went further, I would just bring myself to exhaustion.

I lost a lot of weight, lost muscle mass.

• Victor Bout brought to court in Bangkok, 2010

• AP

• © Apichart Weerawong

Why did you force yourself to eat?

Because I understand what needs to be done.

For what, who needs it?

Was there no desperation?

— No, there was no despair.

- I'm for my mother.

Like this, I'll come home and fall ...

- Same.

I told myself this: that if I am sick, frail, broken, then this will not help anyone.

My mother cried for the first few years when I called her, I couldn’t even talk to her, she immediately started crying.

And I realized that the only option is to do so, and not just imitate, not pretend, but really be what you want to be.

I sometimes ran out of time.

Everything was clear for me: I did it, I have to do it, I read it.

I started learning languages.

There was a time, good textbooks appeared, and I managed to use this time for some purpose, with some benefit.

- More interesting about the case.

What do you think the Americans wanted from you?

Why was all this arranged?

— The question is difficult, I also thought about it a lot.

A normal person might think: “Why all this circus?”

Moreover, the most important question: after all, there was nothing.

I understand, if I really was involved in some kind of there ... But even at the trial, the judge said: “Sorry, I didn’t see anything at this trial that you accuse Viktor of.

He is a normal businessman.

Many businessmen do the same.

He didn't do anything illegal."

— Did you, in fact, have a shipping company?

- Yes.

- Which transported legal, documented cargo?

- But as?

You are flying from an international airport from the same Europe where there is a police, where there is a customs service.

You arrive at the same African airport - and the government service also receives the cargo that was sent to them.

It's like we'll start now to catch all the taxi drivers and condemn: "You know, you transported, it turns out, a drug dealer."

• RT

"Then what's the show for?"

“But why: everything that happened to me is now happening to our country.

I was probably the first one, as in the laboratory: "Let's take it and start trying to conduct an experiment on one specific person."

The most interesting thing is that Kommersant published (I think in 2016) that the State Department stated that Viktor Bout would sit until the end, because he turned out to be stubborn and did not make a deal.

We must make an example out of him for other Russians, whom we will catch, so that they quickly agree with us and not go to court.

— What was the deal, what was offered?

- They offered a deal - instead of a life sentence of 30 years.

- 30 years?

- 30 years.

Was this a deal?

- Yes.

What else did you need to say, something?

- I immediately dismissed this issue, because at first I was appointed a so-called public lawyer at the expense of the court, and such Sabrina Shroff appeared, a very famous madam in these circles.

The one who comes, sits in this room behind the partitions, gets dressed and begins to shift her breasts in front of you, tries to win you over and persuade you to go to this investigation.

Moreover, the most difficult thing was when I realized that I needed to change a lawyer, and we had already prepared everything and went to court to make a statement that we were changing a lawyer, refusing and hiring our own.

Do you know what she did?

She brought an interpreter because Alla was there, and through an interpreter (and there are cells in the court where you can meet with lawyers), she said: “Viktor, I just spoke with Alla, Alla told me not to make a statement ".

Can you imagine?

They brazenly not only lie, there are simply no limits for them.

I understand that there is a big game, there is a political game, I respect even those agents who arrested me, who tried to tell me: "Viktor, nothing personal, it's just business."

“Everyone has a client, I was told.

- There is a client.

And it crossed even those lines.

And she says to me: “Victor, don’t make a statement, Alla told me that they decided to agree on something, everything will be fine, don’t fire me.”

And then Alla looks at me in court.

And then we found out that she was just manipulating.

How to trust this system, even if the lawyer who is attached starts working against you?

Also on russian.rt.com “They knew how to beat and where to beat me so that I would stay alive”: Yaroshenko on torture in an American prison

You said that what happened to you is what is happening to our country now.

Are you following the news?

- Necessarily.

Look, I've been sanctioned since 2000.

So you are a pioneer?

- Yes.

They hung everything on me: they banned me from transfers, they closed all the companies for me, they tried to arrest me, before ... I went through it all.

And for the last 30 years, in fact, at least 22 years, I have been under these sanctions.

That is, there is nothing new that is happening to us ... And that undeclared war that they started with me and my family, they slowly, like an elastic band, began to pull - and in the end, since 2014, they began to pull on the whole country, on everyone Russian people.

- In 2014, you are right, there were sanctions, and now a special military operation has begun.

What is your attitude towards SVO?

“To be honest, I didn’t even understand why we didn’t do this earlier.

Why in 2014... The same Kharkov, he went with demonstrations, I watched on CNN and on Fox News, they carried a huge tricolor and shouted: “Russia, Russia, Russia!”

Donbass, the same Odessa.

It is clear that there were no conditions, we were not ready, but I fully support it.

If I had the opportunity and the necessary skills, I would, of course, volunteer.

- When there was a jury trial, did you know that you would be sentenced?

- Yes.

- You morally understood that you would probably spend many, many years behind bars.

Or did you not have that feeling?

“It’s like there is no turning back.”

The only way out of the environment is an attack.

But it was my internal attack, what I could do to myself.

You could hit the wall, you could smash your head, pretend to be a fool and try to play on it.

But I realized that it's not us, we have to show something completely different.

I wanted to be who I was, who I felt I was.

How did you build relationships with other prisoners?

First, who is sitting there?

Nations, races?

— The most interesting thing is that my case is a bit unique.

I got into the "general public" only for a very short period - from October 2016 to January 2020.

That is, before that I had not seen a real prison.

Because I was either in the "Tenth South" in the MCC, which is considered, as they say, ADX, "on steroids" ...

- What does it mean?

- ADX is an administrative maximum (maximum security prison. -

) in Colorado ...

— How does everything look there?

You sit in a cell all day long, they take you out for a walk, you don't see other people?

You never see anyone.

You have a phone call home once a month.

Only the lieutenant has the key to open this hatch so that food can be served to you.

When you are taken somewhere, you are not only handcuffed - you are shackled, chained, and all this is tied.

And above your camera hangs such a big red sign "Three-man hold".

That is, when you are being led, you are being held by three people like a mad dog.

I'm joking, I say: "Thank you for not wearing a collar with a stick."

- In a short period of spending time with other prisoners, how did they treat you?

Who is it?

Blacks, Hispanics?

- There were different people in Marion - most, of course, blacks.

There was a large percentage of Latinos - not so large, but there were.

And there were very few, so to speak, Europeans, normal Americans.

There were even local Indians.

But this prison basically served ... it has a special status: there are mainly those who committed sex crimes, and those who could not be kept in other prisons, because they or someone passed, and in America it is a national sports - surrender each other.

At one time I even gave them all a nickname, I say: “The USA should be renamed Snitchestan (snitch - scammer, informer.

)”, because everyone knocks on each other.

And even not only prisoners, but also guards knock on each other, hand over, merge.

- Are you talking about “rule 35” (“Turn your friend in and get less time”)? 

- Yes.

This is a holy thing.

- How did they treat you?

Surname mixed up?

- At first they confused, but then I corrected everyone very carefully, until instead of “Baut” everyone began to pronounce “But”.

Is this a sign of respect?

- Not just a sign of respect, these are your habits, when someone speaks incorrectly, you: “Sorry, but my last name is pronounced like this.”

Very polite, nothing.

And gradually the whole prison became... If someone mispronounces me, I know: either he is a beginner, or... But they immediately tried to correct me.

Even CNN and others have begun to pronounce correctly.

— Was it possible to watch the news?

- Yes.

- You are an expert, no doubt, on Africa.

And you see: now the East-West confrontation is returning to Africa again.

How do you see this situation?

- The situation is very interesting.

This is even a topic for a separate discussion, because there are a lot of interesting thoughts, comments, and observations.

I tried to read everything that could be ordered, everything that could be interesting to find.

And there were very interesting people who helped me free of charge and sent me ... Can you imagine, at one time I had about 400 books in my cell.

With only five allowed.

“I know a lot of people who sent you books.

Thanks to your wife Alla, a collection of books was organized.

- And not only from Russia, I had “fans” from abroad who ... At least one person sent me three or four thousand books during all this time, can you imagine?

• RT

I understand why you didn't have enough time.

Was it about Africa?

There were so many that could...

— What is your vision?

Will Russia and the US really clash there again, as the US and the Soviet Union once did?

— I don't think it will be a clash between Russia and the United States.

Now Africa is waking up on its own.

She herself begins this process to move.

We no longer ask and say to them: “Here is a model for you, you must do this.”

We just listen and have to help them, because now everything has become clear.

What is happening in the West is simply the suicide of civilization.

And if this suicide is not prevented at least on the territory of the non-Western world, not the world controlled by the Anglo-Saxons, then the entire planet will commit suicide.

And it goes in all directions.

This includes drugs and (how do you say it in Russian?) LGBTQ+.

Imagine, in American schools now they teach first-graders of six or seven years old that, it turns out, there are 72 genders - not just, for example, gays and normal, but 72. boy, but you can be a girl, so wear a dress.

Can you do that in prison too?

Transform?

I want to tell you an interesting example.

A prisoner was imprisoned for life, almost for four murders, he was already 68 years old, his teeth were knocked out, bald, in tattoos.

Before that, he served in Vietnam, such a grated kalach.

One fine day, a woman comes.

Now he has what is left a little behind, there is a butterfly, cosmetics, he has already done a tattoo, lipstick, a bra under a T-shirt.

I told him: “Jeff, why did you collapse from an oak tree?”

He says: "Don't call me Jeff now, I'm Jessica now."

When I saw this, at first I thought it was funny.

And then they began to appear ... Imagine, you come to the store, and there is a list that you can buy women's panties, women's watches, cosmetics, lipstick, shadows.

And you look at it, and the guards understand it, and they themselves are at a loss.

And why is this happening?

Because as soon as you sign up, you immediately have a support group, they start sending you money, they start calling you, they start visiting you.

How about in America?

You've been shut down - after three or four years you have no family, no home, no friends.

There are 1.2 thousand people in the prison.

As a rule, 800 people depend only on whether they can find work in this prison ... And they pay - it's just slave labor.

- Did you work?

— Yes, I worked, but I worked for a completely different reason.

At the Occupational Safety and Health office.

- What should have been done?

— Охрана труда — это выдача всех средств защиты, проверка, чтобы везде документация была, раздача дезинфекторов, проверка, контроль над огнетушителями. И мне работа нравилась, потому что был офис, была документация, можно было очень много прочитать, понять, как это работает. Это был очень уникальный опыт.

— Сколько платили?

— Платили порядка $40 в месяц, но дело не в этом. Работа была фактически несколько часов в день. Было очень интересно познакомиться. Я это считал не работой, а просто возможностью посмотреть всю тюрьму. Представляешь, ты должен пройти и подписать все огнетушители раз в месяц, во всей... То, что закрыто, внутри. Было очень интересно.

— Несчастные случаи были какие-то в тюрьме?

— Тюрьма тоже уникальная, как правило, даже если драки были, были такие, чисто, как они говорят, «зарегистрироваться», попасть в карцер.

— Попадал в карцер за что-то?

— Нет, Бог миловал. Всегда предвидел ситуацию и всегда удавалось избежать. Хотя, конечно, наказания были, например, за грибной чай. Лишили меня 45 дней хорошего времени и звонков.

— Как это называется, словом shot?

— Интересна даже терминология. Был один чернокожий приятель, который в армии служил. Я с ним говорю, что да как. Он объяснил мне, что вся эта традиция у них идёт с начальной школы. Та же терминология, те же «шейкдауны», те же «локдауны», «шоты», «колауты» и прочее. Я говорю: «Ты серьёзно?» А он: «Да. Школа, тюрьма и армия — у нас даже одинаковые дни, когда дают гамбургер и курицу».

И, говорит, эта система с номерами, с замками, локеры, шкафчики. Это тоже интересная система. У американцев у каждого есть свой шкафчик: ты должен всё туда положить и обязательно закрыть на замочек.

— One of the grounds for your accusation, which is still being pressed by the American press, is your relationship with the Taliban*.

It was?

No, there was no relationship.

Moreover, after the Kandahar crew made a heroic escape (well done guys, they were an example for me all this time), the Taliban put up a bonus if they caught me on my head.

And after that, how can I say that I somehow cooperated with the Taliban?

It's just unthinkable.

Also on russian.rt.com “We thought they would shoot us”: Hero of Russia Vladimir Sharpatov on the escape of the Il-76 crew from Kandahar

- Nevertheless, the American press is actively talking about this, that you were carrying weapons to overthrow regimes and sponsor terrorists.

— Американцы оружие, для того чтобы свергать режимы, никуда не возят. Они меня обвинили в том, что я перевёз «Талибану» 200 танков Т-90. Что такое перевезти 200 танков? Это 200 рейсов в Афганистан. Извините, над каким регионом и где доказательства? Вот это интересно: «Давайте ляпнем, а дальше всё пристроим».

Понимаете, американская пресса потеряла даже веру своих собственных граждан. Я вырос в советское время и горжусь этим. Почему? Потому что в разговорах с американцами ты понимаешь, что даже наша советская пропаганда понимала, что нельзя перебарщивать, человеку надо давать правду, ну можно просто где-то не делать акценты.

— В твоём случае переборщили, ты думаешь?

— Где мы сидели, у нас 35 человек. Никто не верит тому, что говорит CNN, что говорят все эти каналы. Конкретно даже по Украине, по выборам. Все прекрасно знают, что это всё куплено, что это всё подставлено. Уже даже в тюрьме не верят.

А тюрьма — это единственная аудитория вместе с домами престарелых, которая смотрит CNN. Почему? Потому что вся реклама, которая идёт по CNN, — это или памперсы, или катетеры, или дома для престарелых, или услуги на дом. И ты понимаешь, какая целевая аудитория.

— Байден или Трамп, твои предпочтения?

— Никаких. У России есть только два надёжных друга и союзника — наша армия и наш флот.

— Твоё отношение к политике Байдена и к политике Трампа? Одного поля ягоды или всё-таки внутри идёт противостояние?

— Я всегда говорю, такую аналогию можно провести. Есть Pepsi Cola Diet и Coke Zero. Какая разница?

• Дональд Трамп и Джо Байден на дебатах в октябре 2020 года
• AP
• © Patrick Semansky

— Теперь в России уже никакой нет.

— Примерно то же самое. Нам надо перестать даже париться по поводу того, что, как и кто сказал. Почему-то слишком много внимания мы уделяем американской политике. Ребята, давайте решать наши внутренние проблемы. А если освещать Америку, то надо показывать реальные проблемы, наркоманию. Вы понимаете, что такое в тюрьме, столько наркотиков, особенно каннабиноидов — K2, как они называют.

— Как они их проносят, контрабандой?

— Во-первых, на него нет тестов, их невозможно наказать. Как только они его нанюхаются... Они его поджигают, внюхивают — и у них на 15 минут полная отключка. Они начинают или валиться, или замораживаются, или биться об пол, или кричать таким голосом, я никогда не слышал, что так можно кричать от страха: «Меня убивают, спасите, спасите».

Когда человек из этого выходит, его трясёт: «Мне плохо, я не могу больше это пробовать». И через 15 минут в то же самое уходят. Если это в тюрьме, то на улицах... А что происходит, например, в Сан-Франциско? В Чикаго? В Нью-Йорке? Волна преступлений настолько, что когда им говоришь про Россию, что у нас можно по всему городу 24 часа где угодно ходить и, если ты сам к кому-то не пристанешь, шансы каких-то проблем близки к нулю. Они в это не верят.

— Будет в Америке революция?

— К сожалению, я не верю, что революция будет. Им удалось за последние 30 лет очень грамотно... Даже эта наркота, от которой сейчас страдает вся страна, от передозов фентанилом, например, — это по программе. Почему? Как только вы молодёжь подсаживаете массово на наркотики, она уже не может делать революцию. Им уже не до этого.

— Сытый народ не бунтует.

— Не то что сытый, он становится зомби. И даже голливудский отдел пропаганды «вашингтонского обкома» со всеми фильмами про зомби, про Mad Max («Безумного Макса». — RT) и прочее — это же программирование будущего. Они покажут вам красивую картинку, а в подсознании всё постепенно... Нейролингвистическое программирование никто же не отменял. 

Американский народ, может быть, даже в большей степени жертва своего режима, чем другие страны. И самое страшное, особенно за последние годы: посмотрите, что они сделали с теми, кто участвовал в так называемом вооружённом бунте 6 января. Они же посадили почти 1,2—1,3 тыс. человек. И за что? Они никого не убили, ну побили чуть-чуть, но даже не подожгли. Посмотрите, в Бишкеке сколько раз сжигали парламент. Там кого-то посадили? А теперь всем, кого они арестовали, дадут лет по 15, по 20.

— Ты смотрел «Оружейного барона»?

— Конечно.

— Как думаешь, ты тоже жертва Голливуда?

— На моём суде, когда судья спросил одного из агентов DEA (Управления по борьбе с наркотиками. — RT), который меня арестовывал: «Что вы знали о Викторе Буте?», он говорит: «Я про него смотрел фильм и читал книгу». Она спрашивает: «У вас были переводчики с русского языка в вашей группе?» Он говорит: «Нет, у нас был только испанский, нам было достаточно». Вот это уровень.

Мою маму, которая меня посещала в MCC, исключили из списков посещения и сказали, что это не моя мама. Я говорю: «Как?» Они говорят: «Знаешь, у нас этот документ, assessment после суда, там написано, что твои родители — Аминовы». Я говорю: «Кто? Откуда это?» Из «Оружейного барона».

• Кадр из фильма «Оружейный барон»
• Legion-Media
• © United Archives

— То есть они это из фильмов заимствовали?

— У меня в тюремных документах до сих пор записаны мои родители — история скрипта из «Оружейного барона». Это качество профессиональных агентов, которые провели расследование, которые всё собрали, которые знают реальную историю.

— Какие планы на будущее?

— Я пока наслаждаюсь этим счастьем: быть с моими любимыми, быть в родной стране. Наслаждаюсь снегом, наслаждаюсь воздухом свободы. Ведь в Америке сейчас обратный расизм. Быть белым человеком, нормальным человеком, который хочет семью, который хочет детей, который хочет любить, очень тяжело.

— А ты здесь именно этого и хочешь?

— А я этого и хочу.

— Желаю тебе восстановиться полностью, и семья тебе в этом поможет.

— Конечно, если есть какие-то проблемы, надо что-то сделать. Но в целом я очень счастлив, я чувствую себя хорошо. Надо, конечно, может быть, пройти обследование, что-то подлечить.

Зубы, например, сделать. Я потерял почти шесть зубов, они только их вырывают. Говоришь: «Ребята, там только дырка». Они: «Мы только вырвать можем». Хотя как-то у нас был очень хороший врач, но её уволили за то, что она стала вместо того, чтобы вырывать, залечивать.

— Кстати, Грайнер. Ты что-нибудь слышал, что обмен предполагается тебя на неё? Про неё что-то слышал?

— Слухи были. Самое интересное, когда показали её арест, ко мне подходит один из товарищей по несчастью, хлопает по плечу и говорит: «Ну вот, это твой билет на родину».

— Больше ничего о ней не знал?

— Я знал, что она играет. Я как-то даже читал в «Российской газете».

— Было внутри ощущение, что вот-вот случится обмен?

— Знаешь, жизнь или вот этот опыт научил меня не создавать себе ожиданий. Почему? Когда нет ожиданий, всё случается как подарок свыше — и ты всегда счастлив. А когда ты ожидаешь и это не происходит, у тебя чувство разочарования. Поэтому я для себя решил: «Давай выкинем все ожидания и будем жить тем, что есть».

— Когда тебя возвращали, американцы вели себя жестоко или наоборот?

— Удивительная история. Когда пришёл маршал в тюрьму и стал забирать, был учтивый, конечно, наручники, посадили в машину. Вначале в машину посадили, наручники сзади. И говорит: «Потерпи, сейчас довезём». Доехали, через 15 минут перевезли, сидим. Начали разговаривать, как обычно.

I say: “Guys, can I go to the toilet?”

Them: “Yes, please.

Do you want water?

Water, please."

We waited for the plane from Marion to Dulles Airport (Washington Dulles Airport.

).

Everything, brought, planted.

They flew okay.

They opened up there, they have a detention cell there, where they arrest people when drugs or something like that, but they didn't close it.

They just put up a chair, the agent sat down on it and read something.

Also on russian.rt.com “As a result of a long negotiation process”: Russia exchanged American Trevor Reid for Konstantin Yaroshenko

Потом говорит: «Виктор...» Причём обращался ко мне по имени. Они в этот раз, как с Константином Ярошенко, все мои вещи почему-то... Хотя пришёл маршал и сказал: «Со всеми вещами». А тюрьма получила какой-то другой указ, поэтому у меня никаких вещей с собой, даже фотографий — сейчас пытаемся получить их обратно.

Но газеты дали возможность взять, и у меня была пачка «Российской газеты», «Комсомолки» и мой любимый журнал «Родина». И это сгладило время ожидания — три-четыре часа.

— Очень всё вежливо было?

— Очень. Более того, когда зашли в самолёт, чтобы лететь, сняли с меня наручники. Агент сидел рядом, и никаких проблем.

— Ты в кадре шёл рядом с Бриттни Грайнер. Вы не обменивались никакими фразами?

— Я пожелал ей удачи, она протянула мне руку. При всех наших... Надо желать всем удачи и счастья.

— Она ответила?

— Да. Причём она была очень положительно настроена.

— Правда, что у тебя портрет Путина висел в камере?

— Да, всегда.

— Почему?

— Почему бы и нет? Я горжусь тем, что я русский человек и наш президент — Путин. И когда меня спрашивают: «Он же там это, он же там то... Помнишь, был скандал с Навальным, когда он дом показывал?» Я говорю: «Ребята, вы просто не знаете, кто такой Путин». Он завоевал не то что доверие, даже моё личное доверие, когда то, что он сказал в 2001 году, через полгода это стало становиться реальностью шаг за шагом. И любое заявление, которое он делал, — посмотрите в историю.

— Кому, как ты считаешь, обязан своим освобождением?

— Наверное, всем.

— Достойный ответ.

- To all of Russia, to everyone who supported me, to everyone who loves me.

I received so many letters from all over the country: Kaliningrad, Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk.

Just strangers wrote, my old classmates wrote, even from Germany: "Viktor, hold on."

They sent postcards.

Just strangers.

They wrote from Ukraine.

Someone was given the opportunity to correspond somehow, I always tried to answer.

Many thanks to all those who wrote to me.

A lot of Russian speakers wrote from America.

From Canada they helped a lot: they bought books and simply offered everything that could be done.

Simply unique.

I am proud that I am Russian.

I know that we will always win and everything will be fine.

* "Taliban" - the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.