MOSCOW, 2 Jul. Viktor Bout, released from an American prison, believes that the arrest of a hockey player in Poland is an attempt to stir up Russophobic sentiments in the country.
Earlier, the Polish authorities reported that a Russian hockey player had been detained on charges of espionage. The official website of the Polish Ice Hockey Union contains information that Maxim Sergeev, a native of Reutov, plays in the Zaglebie club. Even the number of his hockey license is given — 4144/S.
«
» The situation is very strange. A man plays hockey there, what is an 18-20-year-old guy? And yet they try to accuse him of committing espionage. The Poles no longer know how to stir up Russophobic sentiments. I understand if a person was caught red-handed. The example of Ukraine gives a new business model: you start fighting, and all the blessings of the world flow to you. Don't care about your own people» — said Booth "Match TV".
The public figure also offered to involve lawyers. At the same time, Bout advised not to touch the Poles living in Russia.
“We should not respond to them with the same vile methods. There is an embassy. The consul can get access to the arrested Russian citizens. If our public is outraged, this is a significant step. Even pickets at the Polish embassy will not go unnoticed,” the businessman added.
In April 2012, Viktor Bout was sentenced by a court in New York to 25 years in prison. In December 2022, he was exchanged in the UAE for American basketball player Brittney Griner. The athlete was sentenced in Russia to nine years in a penal colony in the case of drug smuggling.