In this file photo taken on April 9, 2008 Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout speaks to the press from behind his cell bars of the criminal court detention center in Bangkok. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
Moscow: The mother of notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout, on Thursday thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for her son's release as part of a swap with the United States.
The release happened "thanks to our president," Raisa Bout said in televised remarks.
"I am so grateful. A low maternal bow to the Russian foreign ministry with Lavrov Sergei Viktorovich at its helm," she said.
She said she was also grateful to "kind people" in the United States, thanking them for having "faith."
"You cannot say that all of them are evil," she added.
His wife Alla said Bout's release was a "true New Year's gift."
Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death" was released on Thursday in a swap with the United States involving American basketball star Brittney Griner. He is expected to arrive in Moscow shortly.
The exchange comes as tensions rage between Moscow and Washington over Russia's military assault in Ukraine.
Russia's Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova praised the arms dealer as a "wonderful man who has become a victim of American insinuations."
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the country's diplomats were receiving messages of support from "people in Russia and abroad."
"Incredible!" she said on messaging app Telegram. "They are thanking the country."
The 55-year-old Bout, who was accused of arming rebels in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was arrested in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison.
