MOSCOW, February 27 (Itar-Tass) — Main Russian terrorist Doku Umarov ordered the assassination of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, which was exposed and prevented by Russian and Ukrainian security services, TV Channel One reported on Monday. Umarov who heads the Caucasus Emirate terrorist organisation blacklisted by the UN Security Council, is responsible for numerous terrorist acts in Russia.
For the terrorist act the bandits were planning to use military mines. They were carefully studying the movements of Putin’s motorcade and intended to commit the crime after the March 4 presidential election.
The TV channel reporter in his piece recalled that there was an explosion in an apartment in Odessa on January 4. Fire fighters thought that it was a gas explosion, but two days later, on January 6, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) sent an urgent telegram to its colleagues from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). “One of those who rented the apartment was killed in the blast, another one who got burns was rescued and immediately interrogated, as parts of explosive devices were found among their belongings,” the reporter said.
The survived man’s name is Ilya Pyanzin, and the killed was Ruslan Madayev. They arrived to Odessa taking a flight from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via Turkey having “clear instructions from Doku Umarov’s representatives.”
The TV showed a fragment from Pyanzin’s interrogation. “We were told that we must initially go to Odessa, learn how to make a bomb, and then in Moscow were to stage sabotage acts against economic facilities and after that – the assassination of Putin,” he testified. After that they arrived in Odessa where they were given a telephone number of the person who was to meet them.
After that the Ukrainian and Russian security services began to work together. The third member of the gang was detained by Ukraine’s police special task force. His name was Adam Osmayev, who since 2007 was on the international wanted list. The TV channel correspondent said that Osmayev “willingly cooperates with the investigation hoping that it will help him avoid extradition to Russia.”
“The ultimate goal was to go to Moscow to try to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,” Osmayev said. Asked what the plan was, he replied: “Generally there are military mines – side-hitting anti-tank mines. So even not necessarily a suicide bomber.”
“The man who was killed, for instance, was ready to act as a suicide bomber,” said Adam Osmayev, adding that he himself would not.
According to intelligence data, Osmayev who had earlier lived abroad (in London) for a long time, was the terrorists’ courier in Odessa and an instructor. He was to train them and convey to Moscow. The whole training plan was found by detectives in his laptop.
“Among the files there are videos featuring a motorcade passing, in particular Putin’s. So that to have a clue how the guarded person gets into the vehicle, how many cars are in the motorcade, the videos are taken from different angles, from different streets. So, the people used not one, but several examples for training,” an FSB operative said.
Part of the detonators and plastic explosives was brought to the RF capital in advance - along with the explosives with which was packed the vehicle that was demined by FSB officers in Profsoyuznaya Street in Moscow in May 2007. Hoping for leniency, Osmayev has shown the cache located near Kutuzov Avenue in Moscow.
“It would be a major explosion. Sufficient to destroy a truck,” the FSB operative said.
Adam Osmayev does not deny that he has been thoroughly studying the routes of movement of government motorcades in Moscow. He also confessed that the preparation of the terrorist attack has already been completed: “The deadline was after the Russian presidential election.”
The Russian and Ukrainian security services continue the case investigation.
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has confirmed information about the prevention by Ukrainian and Russian secret services of a planned assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin. “I do confirm the information, but do not comment on it so far,” Peskov told Itar-Tass.