KELLY: In Illinois - now, why would Vladimir Putin, Russian President Vladimir Putin, want him back? He was finally arrested in 2008 in Thailand, extradited to the U.S., convicted in 2011, and he's been serving this 25-year sentence in Illinois. He became so notorious, there was a 2005 movie loosely based on his life called "Lord Of Death," (ph) starring Nicolas Cage. He sold to rebel groups - anyone who would pay him. He acquired Soviet military transport planes, loaded them with weapons and started selling them all over the world - Africa, Middle East, Asia. He'd been trained as a linguist by the military. Viktor Bout at that time was just in his mid-20s. All this military hardware was suddenly scattered across 15 brand-new countries, and it was terribly chaotic. MYRE: Well, we really need to go back to the Soviet Union break up in 1991. Who is Viktor Bout, and how did he become this infamous arms dealer? KELLY: All right, I'll put this question to you. For more, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myre. So who is Viktor Bout? Well, he was the world's most notorious arms smuggler, or here's how CIA Director William Burns put it concisely last week.
is trying to win the release of two Americans being held in Russia, and it appears this might involve a trade for a Russian imprisoned in the U.S.
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