Viktor Bout (Courtesy Facebook)

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “There is no doubt that the illegal extradition of Viktor Bout came about as a consequence of unprecedented political pressure exerted by the U.S. government and judicial authorities of Thailand.”

Bout will face trial for running a weapons-selling operation that spanned Africa, the Middle East and South America. He is accused of selling arms to a terrorist group and conspiring to kill Americans, according to the New York Times.

The 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer, known by many as the “Merchant of Death,” is widely believed to have inspired the 2005 film, “Lord of War,” starring Nicolas Cage.

Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos hailed the extradition, telling reporters he hopes Bout will go to prison.

"If he was an arms dealer, it is important he pays in prison. It is secondary whether it's a prison in (the United States) or Colombia, but he should pay," he said.

American agents arrested Bout in 2008 in a sting operation in which the Americans posed as militants from Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC).

Read more at the New York Times.