A look at Viktor Bout, the ‘Merchant of Death,’ Biden freed in exchange for Griner

WNBA star Brittney Griner is now free, but her liberation came at the cost of unleashing a notorious Russian arms dealer named Viktor Bout, who had been penned up in a federal penitentiary in Illinois.

An allegedly ruthless and shrewd weapons merchant, Bout's ferociousness in the black market arena across Eastern Europe into Africa and the Middle East earned him monikers such as the "Merchant of Death" and "Sanctions Buster" and purportedly inspired the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War.

"After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along," President Joe Biden announced Thursday morning.

Griner had been in Russian custody after authorities discovered cannabis oil vape cartridges in her luggage back in February. The women's basketball star was then sentenced to over nine years behind bars back in August for drug-related charges. The Biden administration had been negotiating her release for months.