A Ukrainian court on Tuesday, Aug.14, ordered the extradition of the suspected leader of a foiled plot to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, Interfax news agency reported.
Days before Russia’s March 4 presidential election, the
country’s state media carried news of a plot by Islamist rebels
to kill Putin, who then served as prime minister and won the
vote to become president for a third term.
State television said the plotters, seized after one blew
himself up in a flat in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa,
had planned to plant a bomb in central Moscow to kill Putin on
his way to work.
The report provoked ridicule from Putin’s opponents who said
it was a crude attempt to boost the former KGB spy’s popularity
before the election.
The Appeals Court of the Odessa region on Tuesday supported
state prosecutors’ request to hand over Adam Osmayev to Russia,
Interfax reported. It said Osmayev denied the charges against
him.
