- He shied away after he was confronted during an interview on Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported.The Russian arms dealer who was freed in a prisoner exchange for Brittney Griner late last year has walked back on earlier claims that he would volunteer to fight on the front line in Ukraine.In an interview on the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda's radio station on Wednesday, Viktor Bout became evasive and irritable when reminded of an earlier statement about his willingness to fight, according to The Daily Beast.Bout was speaking at length about his pride in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when the interviewer cut in to relay a question from a listener, saying: "Let Bout prove his patriotism towards the Motherland by joining Wagner in Soledar," according to The Daily Beast.The listener went on to ask whether Bout had received an offer to join the troops of the Wagner Group, a mercenary army fighting on Russia's behalf."