Posted on 02/27/2012 12:14:59 PM PST by Hunton Peck
Russia's security services say they've foiled a plot by Chechen separatists to assassinate Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to Russian media reports on Monday. The alleged hit job revelation comes a week ahead of Russian presidential elections that Putin is expected to easily win.
Two suspects, reportedly acting under the leadership of Chechen warlord Doku Umar, "were arrested in Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odessa after an accidental explosion Jan. 4 while they were trying to manufacture explosives at a rented apartment," the Associated Press reported Monday, citing Russian state television channel One. They were reportedly "preparing to kill Putin in Moscow immediately after Sunday's election."
Russia watchers in Washington said while the timing of the public revelations of the hit plot may be "managed" by the Kremlin, they did not believe it likely that the charges were entirely trumped up to benefit Putin's presidential elections prospects.
"It may be as simple as what takes place in every country in the world: By and large, governments try to manage the timing of information getting out to the public to their advantage," Matthew Rojansky, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Yahoo News in an interview Monday. "The very benign interpretation is...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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