You're reading: Man convicted of plotting Putin attack becomes commander of battalion fighting alongside Ukraine army

 Odesa - Adam Osmayev, who had previously been convicted by a Ukrainian court of plotting a terrorist attack against Russian President Vladimir Putin, became the new commander of the so-called Dzhokhar Dudayev battalion fighting on the side of the Ukrainian army in Donbas.

An appropriate announcement was made by Osmayev’s common-law wife Amina Okuyeva, who is currently serving as the battalion’s press officer.

Osmayev’s predecessor in this role was Isa Munayev, who was killed by artillery fire near the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve on Feb. 1.

Isa Munayev, commander of the so-called Dzhokhar Dudayev international peacekeeping battalion fighting on the side of the Ukrainian army, was killed in eastern Ukraine. His death was announced by the press service of Luhansk region Governor Hennadiy Moskal on Feb. 2.

Adam Osmayev was detained in the Ukrainian southern city of Odesa on Feb. 4, 2012 on suspicion of staging an explosion in Odesa’s Tyraspilska Street on January 4. The blast claimed the life of Russian citizen Ruslan Madayev, 26, and seriously injured Kazakh citizen Ilya Pyanzin, 28, who was subsequently detained and actively cooperated with investigators.

On Nov. 18, 2012, an Odesa court convicted Osmayev of plotting a terrorist attack against the Russian president, but released him in the courtroom after agreeing that the term of two years and nine months that Osmayev had already spent in pre-trial custody was sufficient.