Sniper Osmanov (SM)
A bid to assassinate President Vladimir Putin was foiled by Russian secret services, it was revealed yesterday.
In echoes of film Day of the Jackal, a man with a sniper rifle was held in a flat overlooking Red Square four hours before the Kremlin leader made a speech there.
The gunman, named as Shakhvelad Osmanov, had rented an apartment with a view across Moscow River to the platform which ex-KGB spy Putin and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev spoke at following the Russian elections on March 2.
State-controlled Tvoi Den newspaper said: "For an experienced marksman, both would have been easy targets."
Officers from Russia's FSB security services raided the flat at 8pm and detained Osmanov, 24, and a "whole arsenal of firearms", including a "foreign" sniper rifle with telescopic sights and an AK47 assault rifle.
It is unclear why the assassination attempt took so long to be revealed and the motive behind it.
Putin - once head of the FSB - has made enemies during his eight year rule. The FSB itself has not confirmed or denied reports.
It was said to be hunting the organisation behind the plot.
Osmanov, from breakaway republic Tajikistan, is not thought to be the mastermind.
But the plot thickened as state-controlled news agency Interfax later said secret services officials denied an assassination attempt.
news@sundaymirror.co.uk
|
