Vladimir Putin and Abakar AbakarovA critic of Vladimir Putin has been discovered “stabbed to death” in Turkey, where he had been living in exile.
Abakar Abakarov, 49, was on an international wanted list, accused of inciting anti-government riots in the volatile region of Dagestan.
Abakar Abakarov, who ran the anti-Kremlin Telegram channel ‘Morning Dagestan’Credit: East2West
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine and Western intelligence of ‘trying to instigate pogroms in Russia’Credit: AFP
Abakarov’s body was discovered at a rented villa in Istanbul by a cleanerCredit: East2West
In 2023, Putin accused Western intelligence of “trying to instigate pogroms in Russia.”
Abakarov, who managed the anti-Kremlin Telegram channel ‘Morning Dagestan,’ was viewed by Russian authorities as connected to this situation.
His body was found at a rented villa by a cleaner.
He had been living under an alias to evade Russian assassins, according to reports.
“The cause of death was multiple stab wounds,” reported the VChK-OGPU channel, which is linked to Russian security agencies.
The Turkish authorities have initiated an investigation but have not provided any comments on the case.
Abakarov had been missing for over a week.
In October 2023, an angry antisemitic mob staged a riot at Makhachkala airport in Dagestan, threatening to hunt down and kill Jews as a plane arrived from Tel Aviv.
More than 20 individuals were injured during the clashes, including nine officers.
The Russian FSB security service was pursuing Abakarov’s arrest in connection with this unrest and his anti-Putin activities.
At that time, Russian leader Putin expressed outrage: “The events in Makhachkala were inspired, including through social networks, partially from the territory of Ukraine, by the hands of Western intelligence agencies.”
Abakarov was thought to be close to former Russian MP Ilya Ponomarev, now a Ukrainian citizen, who was also accused in absentia by Russia regarding the unrest.
This incident coincides with dramatic arrests by French police of suspected members of a Putin death squad accused of plotting to assassinate Vladimir Osechkin, 44, an exiled activist who has exposed torture and brutality in Russia’s prisons, including against opponents of the regime.
The suspects, aged between 26 and 38, were apprehended near Biarritz, where Osechkin resides.
Three of them were originally from the same Russian region of Dagestan as Abakarov. Osechkin, 44, had revealed the use of rape and sexual violence in Putin’s prisons.
He claimed that leading Putin rival Alexei Navalny was tortured before he was killed in an Arctic prison.
“I want to express my gratitude… to the French police [who detained the suspected assassins],” said Osechkin.
“Many thanks to the DGSI [France’s intelligence agency] and everyone involved in apprehending those thugs, killers, and losers, and to all who work to thwart such dirty, bloody Putin schemes in Russia and beyond.”
“Once again, my deepest thanks and respect to the French police and to those personally responsible for my protection and safety.
“It’s clear that if it weren’t for this highly professional and competent security service, Putin’s assassins would have killed me long ago.”
Abakarov has been found ‘stabbed to death’ in a rented villa in IstanbulCredit: East2West
The Turkish authorities have launched an investigation but have not commented on the caseCredit
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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