You're reading: American journalist Paul Klebnikov’s alleged killer arrested in Kyiv

The murder of an American investigative journalist and ex-chief editor of Forbes Russia magazine Paul Klebnikov in July 2004 remains among many unsolved contract murders of journalists in Russia.

Although the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia re-opened the investigation in 2009, no masterminds and killers have been brought to justice.

It turned out that for years one of the alleged shooters of Klebnikov had been hiding in Ukraine.

Paul Klebnikov was an American journalist and chief editor of Russian edition of Forbes magazine who was murdered in Moscow in 2004.

Paul Klebnikov was an American journalist and chief editor of Russian edition of Forbes magazine murdered in Moscow in 2004.

Security Service of Ukraine reported on Nov. 18 the arrest of a Russian national of Chechen origin in Kyiv who might be involved in the murder of Klebnikov. Although SBU didn’t disclose the name of the man, it provided enough details for media to identify him as Kazbek Dukuzov, one of the three suspects in the case.

In 2005 General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia called Dukuzov among alleged killers of Klebnikov and Yakov (Yan) Sergunin, who served as a deputy head of the government of Chechnya in 2001-2003. Both men were killed in 2004 in connection with Klebnikov’s investigations on corruption and organized crime in Russia and Chechnya.

Dukuzov and two other suspects – Musa Vakhaev and a Moscow notary Fail Sadretdinov – were acquitted by the jury in 2006. But later the Supreme Court of Russia overturned the verdict. By the time a new trial began, Dukuzov had fled the country and was listed in Interpol’s database of wanted persons.

According to SBU, Dukuzov continued his criminal activity in Ukraine. He is believed to have been a member of a local organized crime group that extorted money from businesses.