One of Vladimir Putin’s adversaries was discovered dead under suspicious circumstances while residing in exile in Turkey.
Abakar Abakarov, aged 49, was a fugitive on Russia’s wanted list, facing charges of provoking anti-government protests in the volatile Dagestan region. President Putin had previously alleged that Ukraine and Western intelligence were attempting to incite violence in Russia in 2023. Authorities in Russia associated Abakarov, who managed the anti-government Telegram channel Morning Dagestan, with this alleged plot. Abakarov had fled to Turkey and reportedly lived incognito to evade Russian assassins.
The body of the Putin critic was found in a rented residence in Istanbul by a cleaner. A Russian media outlet, with ties to the nation’s security service, reported that he succumbed to multiple stab wounds.
Abakarov had been missing for over a week before his lifeless body was discovered. Turkish officials have launched an inquiry but have refrained from commenting on the matter.
In October 2023, a violent anti-Semitic mob rebelled at Makhachkala airport in Dagestan, pledging to target and harm Jewish individuals as a flight arrived from Tel-Aviv.
More than 20 individuals sustained injuries during the clashes, including nine law enforcement officers. The Russian security service, FSB, had issued a warrant for Abakarov’s arrest in connection with the unrest and his anti-Putin activism.
During that period, Putin expressed outrage, blaming the events in Makhachkala on external influences, including social media, allegedly orchestrated from Ukraine with the involvement of Western intelligence agencies. Abakarov was known to be associated with former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev, who is now a Ukrainian citizen and was also indicted in absentia by Moscow for his involvement in the disturbances.
This perplexing incident coincides with the arrest of a suspected hit squad by French police for allegedly planning the assassination of Vladimir Osechkin, 44, a human rights advocate in exile who has exposed abuse and mistreatment in Russian prisons, particularly targeting opponents of the regime.
The suspects, aged between 26 and 38, were apprehended near Biarritz, where Osechkin resides. They hailed from the same Dagestan region as Abakarov.
Osechkin became a target of the Moscow government after revealing instances of sexual violence and rape in Putin’s penitentiaries and alleging mistreatment of Alexei Navalny before his death in an Arctic detention facility.
The Moscow dissident expressed gratitude to the French authorities for apprehending the suspected assassins, acknowledging their efforts in thwarting alleged assassination plots orchestrated by Putin’s regime in Europe, especially in France.
He stated, “I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the French police and the DGSI for apprehending those violent individuals who work to halt Putin’s malevolent schemes across Europe and in France. Without the professional and vigilant security measures in place, Putin’s killers would have silenced me long ago.”
