A prisoner swap resulted in the return of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
He joined a party that supports the war in Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was an ally of Putin.
A far-right, ultranationalist party could give Viktor Bout a seat in the Russian parliament.
The "Merchant of Death" became a member of the LDPR on Monday, according to the report.
The leader of the LDPR, Leonid Slutsky, thanked Bout in a video posted on Telegram.
The LDPR is an ultranationalist ideology despite its name. The party founded in 1992 has been demanding that Russia regain control of the former Soviet Union. It supports the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
After a high-profile prisoner exchange, Bout came home last week. The drug smuggler was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.
A jury found Bout guilty of conspiring to support terrorists and kill Americans.
During the 1990s, he was a prominent international arms dealer and is thought to have done business in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After a US Drug Enforcement Agency sting operation, he was arrested in Thailand.
The arms dealer told Russian media that he had no immediate plans to participate in any elections, despite his new membership in the LDPR.
His entry into politics was applauded by close Putin allies.
According to The Guardian, Prigozhin said that Bout is an example of firmness in a statement posted on his company's website.
He said that Bout will be good at the head of any movement.
The Pentagon is concerned that the convicted arms dealer could return to his previous business.
A senior defense official told journalists last week that they were concerned that he would return to doing the same kind of work.
Bout said in an interview with the Russian state television network that he would volunteer if he could.
The arms dealer said he had a picture of Putin in his jail cell. I am proud to be Russian and that our president is Putin.
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