Unlike the diary on the rec list, about that blockbuster Buzzfeed story, these assassinations have not necessarily been carried out at the whim of Vladimir Putin. (Not all, perhaps.) It’s a tale of smaller targets, one that have not always received a lot of notice. But i think it sheds some light on what’s been going on behind the scenes, in Europe and the Middle East, and how political murder can be carried out in any neighbourhood.
On June 1st, a former Chechen rebel, who had fled his homeland and since then fought on the side of the Ukrainian government, was shot in the streets of Kiev. Two days later i posted a diary with some background on the intended victim, and something about the assassin himself.
Another Russian (Chechen?) assassination attempt
On thursday afternoon, Adam Osmaev, a Chechen rebel who leads a unit in Ukraine fighting alongside government forces, was approached in Kiev by a man purporting to be a journalist with Le Monde. Osmayev [sic] was shot once in the abdomen and is in intensive care. His wife, member of a special task force of the Ukrainian National Police, returned fire. The attacker was hit with four bullets and has been apprehended.
Just one week after the incident, Osmaev was released from hospital. He walked out on his own, next to his wife, Amina Okueva. This is remarkable considering that he’d been shot at extemely close range. Since then more has come out regarding how it all went down. Andrew Kramer wrote an article for The New York Times last week.
Masquerading as Reporter, Assassin Hunted Putin Foes in Ukraine
The man was tall and dapper. He wore a dark suit and spoke with a French accent. When he met politicians in Kiev, he introduced himself as Alex Werner, a reporter with the French newspaper Le Monde.
“He was elegant, calm and confident,” recalled Amina Okuyeva, who is a minor celebrity in Ukraine because she served with her husband as a volunteer soldier in the war against separatists in the eastern part of the country. Mr. Werner had interviewed her several times.
It was midway through one of those purported interviews, in a terrifying flash of gunpowder, that Mr. Werner’s true identity came to light: He was, in fact, a Chechen assassin, the Ukrainian authorities now say.
The assassin, Artur Denisultanov-Kurmakaev,1 a Russian-born Chechen, had been in in Ukraine for months, even managing to secure a passport. It’s not at all clear but apparently at least one official has been arrested in connection with a scheme for providing legit papers to Russians. Whether this mostly involved spooks, or simply criminal elements, i don’t know.
1. aka “Dingo”, aka “Arbi”. For convenience, i’ll be using the first nick.
Prosecutor’s office told how Osmaev’s killer could get Ukrainian passport
Kyiv prosecutor’s office and National Police busted group of people who contributed to legalization of those wanted in Russia for grave or particularly grave crimes. As it was reported on Facebook by Nadiya Maksymets, the press secretary of Kyiv prosecutor’s office, Oleksandr Dakar, who shot ATO volunteers Adam Osmaev and Amina Okueva, received documents in terms of this scheme.
...
The investigation established that the representatives of the mentioned group provided the State Migration Service with fake documents, which were used as a basis for giving Ukrainian citizenship to wanted persons. Later these individuals arranged marriages with Ukrainian women so that the suspects remained with the surname of their fake wife. The marriage itself was soon broken down.
Dingo then adopted another false identity in the name Alex Werner, purported journalist for Le Monde. According to NYT, he’d lived in Kiev for more than a year, and had met with a number of people, including politicians.
Beginning May 20, Dingo had met with and interviewed Osmaev and Okueva several times. On June 1st he invited them to take him to the French Embassy in their car. He also claimed that his newspaper had a gift for them. As they drove together he suggested that they stop for another brief interview, and asked them to sit together in the back of the car. Holding a red gift box he said, “Now, here is your gift” and removed his gun, shooting Osmaev once.2 As Osmaev grappled with Dingo Okueva leapt into action.
2. Or twice—reports differ.
A shot hit Mr. Osmayev on the right side of his chest. But he was not immediately incapacitated and struggled with the shooter for control of the gun. Ms. Okuyeva, however, long fearful of assassination attempts, was carrying a pistol under her coat, as well as a tube of the blood-clotting agent Celox in her purse. She shot Mr. Denisultanov-Kurmakayev four times as he and her husband fought. Both were gravely wounded but survived.
“I will always be thankful,” Mr. Osmayev said in an interview of his wife’s quick draw. “Because of her reaction, we are both alive today.”
Radio Free Europe further describes the dramatic moment.
Chechen Accused Of Plotting To Kill Putin Spared Death By Sharp-Shooting Wife
In a video interview after the incident, Okuyeva said the man had told them his editors had sent a "gift" for them that they would "like very much" and presented a box.
"When he opened it, I spotted a Glock pistol," said Okuyeva, who like her husband spent time among pro-Kyiv forces fighting Russia-backed separatists after war broke out in Ukraine's east. "He immediately grabbed it and started shooting at Adam."
But Okuyeva said afterward that she always carries a gun that she was awarded by the Ukrainian authorities for her service "on my belt along with a spare magazine."
She said the gunman "fired a few shots before I fired back at him," adding that her gun jammed after she fired her third shot. Okuyeva said she "pounced on him with my bare hands and he dropped his gun" before she and her husband pushed him out of the car. She then began to treat her husband's wounds, she said.
Just before Dingo bestowed the “gift” he had handed his cell phone to Okueva, asking her to document the moment.
Osmaev murder attempt: Attacker tried recording assassination on camera
The assailant who tried to kill pro-Ukrainian Chechen fighters Adam Osmaev and Amina Okueva tried to record the murder on camera. Okueva said this in an interview with Ukrainian media.
According to her, the attacker asked her to hold the cellphone while doing a selfie, which he chose as the moment to try killing them. As the shooter opened fire, she dropped the phone and opened return fire; however, the audio recorder must have recorded the sound of what was going on. This should help the investigation; the audio record will be released as soon as possible.
While it may seem that having Osmaev’s wife hold the mobile was merely a smart tactic to keep her hands occupied—and it was—there may be a good reason that he needed to record the murder.
Despite taking three bullets,3 including one to the spine, Dingo remains alive, last i knew. I’m curious to know what he’ll have to say, not least because he might clear up some of the mysteries in his past.
3. Or four—reports differ.
According to NYT, he had been associated with the Chechen mob in St Petersburg during the 90s. Here he is (beginning at 1:42) on a Russian television show. Unfortunately, i’ve lost touch with my usual Russian translator4 and have only the vaguest notion what is being said.
4. Nothing nefarious. She ran off with a boy.
In 2008 Dingo surfaced again, in Vienna Austria. The authorities there questioned him about another Chechen, Umar Israilov, who had requested asylum. Israilov, who had been one of Ramzan Kadyrov’s bodyguards, had testified before the European Court of Human Rights about things he had seen among the Chechen elite, including killings by Kadyrov himself and a man who would go on to sit in the Russian parliament.
Dingo had apparently been dispatched by Kadyrov to bring Israilov back to Chechnya—or, perhaps, to kill him. Dingo traveled through several Eastern European countries before arriving in Austria, where he managed to gain contact with Israilov. Here, though, things become murky—because Dingo, for some reason, got in touch with Interpol in Austria and told them quite a story. The NYT published a statement [PDF] that he gave to the Vienna Sicherheitsdirektion (Security Directorate) on June 10, 2008.
I would like to state the following about myself: My name is Artur KURMAKEV, born in Gudermes / Russia on 05.06.1967 and resident in Saint Petersburg, Vosstania Street 19/44. My birth name is DENISULTANOV. I work for the President of the Republic of Chechnya, Ramsan KADYROV. My boss is the President's right-hand man, his name is TIMUR, nickname "LORD". He comes from the same village as me, Geldagan. I am working in a new department charged with bringing Chechen expatriates back home. It concerns Chechens who have killed people, stolen money, fought against Russia and have contacts to terrorist organisations. I have been working in this department for approximately 6 months. Previously I was an English and German primary school teacher in Chechnya.
(I believe that “primary school” here may refer to grade school, as opposed to toddlers, but still!)
It’s difficult to sort out what of Dingo’s story is true. The allegations against Israilov are quite possibly bullshit told to Dingo to assuage any guilt, and are in any case unimportant. He claims that after several meetings he’d convinced Israilov to return. This is unlikely, as the latter had previously refused to return from Poland while his family were held hostage, his father being incarcerated for almost a year. They had since fled to asylum in Norway. Dingo also said that two other Chechens—members of Kadyrov’s personal guard—were also detailed to the job, although they had since returned home. No schoolteachers, these; it’s easy to imagine that their role was something more than simply to escort Israilov back to Chechnya. Why they returned was not explained.
A clearer picture begins to form in a later indictment:
On 31.5.2008 ISRAILOV was contacted in VIENNA by the Russian citizen Artur KURMAKAEV, formerly known as DENISULTANOV, nicknamed Arbi, via his acquaintance Timur ABDULAEV. KURMAKEV claimed to be a businessman from ST. PETERSBURG and directly accused ISRAILOV of embezzling 300.000 US Dollars. He also claimed that ISRAILOV still had this money. Later he revealed the real reason for his presence, explaining to ISRAILOV that he knew of his “problems” with Ramzan KADYROW and that he could help him solve them. The only thing ISRAILOV had to do was withdraw the accusations made before the European Court of Human Rights. In June 2008 the two met several times within a couple of days. KURMAKAEV tried to convince ISRAILOV to travel with him to the Czech Republic. On 8.6.2008, ISRAILOV agreed to meet KURMAKAEV on Danube Island in Vienna. He went there with his two acquaintances Anzor and Beslan. He told KURMAKAEV not to contact him again and even threatened him with a pistol to stress his demands. KURMAKAEV answered by telling him that KADYROW had sent him to reach an agreement concerning the claims ISRAILOV had filed before the ECHR. He claimed that ISRAILOV would be given money and work if the charges were withdrawn. KURMAKAEV told him that KADYROW had informed KURMAKAEV that he did not want ISRAILOV’s family in Chechnya to “run into trouble”. Finally KURMAKAEV warned ISRAILOV that there were two people in Slovakia “yearning to kill” ISRAILOV and that he should consider all the options before making a decision. The other individuals present took photographs that show KURMAKAEV and ISRAILOV talking to each other. The whole conversation between ISRAILOV and KURMAKAEV was recorded.
And then it gets really strange. Back to the statement mentioned above:
Yesterday, KADYROV's right-hand man called me and told me to call back. I called the telephone number 0079280866977, this is TIMUR "LORD"'s number. He then put me through to President KADYROV. He told me that the situation had changed, that ISRAILOV was no longer needed in Chechnya and I should do what I wanted, no matter what, but I had to decide the problems myself and come back. I said I would do everything. As a result, I now have problems of course and I do not know what to do. That is why I am here to ask for help. I would like to note that I still have family in Chechnya who I am very worried about if I do not sort this out properly. I do not want to break any laws and I am not a murderer. If I do not fulfill the assignment properly, my family could die.
At first glance it appears that he was saying that the job had been called off. But what he actually said was that it was no longer necessary to bring him back alive.
Dingo also claimed that he had seen a list of 5000 names of Chechens who were abroad, and whom Kadyrov wanted returned. He said that 300 of these people were slated for execution wherever they could be found. It seems that what Dingo was saying is that Israilov’s name had now joined the 300.
Here it begins to become clear why Dingo would go out of his way to approach Interpol and the SD. He claimed that he was no killer, but that the safety of his family was riding on him “decid[ing] the problems” in Vienna.
Dingo closed his statement to suggest that the Austrian authorities should fake Israilov’s death and give him a new identity.
Was Dingo genuinely trying to help Israilov? Or, at least, attempting to save his family without committing murder? Or, had he come under suspicion of being on a mission to kill, and was attempting to barter his way out? Or something of everything?
Whatever the case, the Austrians did not take him up on his plan, and let him go on his way.
Six months later Israilov was gunned down outside his home in Vienna.
CJ Chivers tells the story of his life, his murder, and the gruesome allegations that led to his death.
Slain Exile Detailed Cruelty of the Ruler of Chechnya
On Jan. 13, Mr. Israilov left his apartment, where he had been watching his three young children while his pregnant wife was away, to buy yogurt at a nearby market. Outside, he was confronted by at least two men.
They argued, and one of the men tried to pistol-whip Mr. Israilov, according to Gerhard Jarosch, a spokesman for Austria’s prosecutor. Mr. Israilov bolted. He still had received no protection. In broad daylight on a Vienna street, he ran for his life alone.
One of his pursuers opened fire. Mr. Israilov fell, shot in an arm, a leg and the abdomen, according to Mr. Jarosch. A short while later, he was dead.
Chivers also imparts some of the confusion that is situation in Chechnya, a republic—ostensibly loyal to Russia—run by warlord who had earlier been a rebel fighting the Russians, and was now hunting his fellow Chechens. Wahabist or dissident—all were seen to be a threat to his regime. Those who weren’t killed outright were tortured. Sometimes, they’d be turned, forced to work for the death squads that had captured them.
In the summer of 2003, Mr. Israilov said, the guards led him in shackles to a sauna, where Mr. Kadyrov made an offer: join the presidential security service and live. The alternative, Mr. Israilov said, was clear. He accepted.
Mr. Kadyrov gave him a pistol, according to the court complaint, and Umar Israilov began work in the “kadyrovtsie” — the Kadyrovs’ troops.
Asked later why he did not turn the pistol against a man he said had tortured him, Mr. Israilov replied, “Because I wanted to live.”
As part of its defense against these allegations, Mr. Kadyrov’s office said last month that it had no record of Mr. Israilov’s having served Mr. Kadyrov. Russian prosecutorial records from Chechnya, however, show that Mr. Israilov worked in Mr. Kadyrov’s guard beginning in late 2003.
The authorities caught up with the apparent leader5 of the plot—a Chechen born Ramzan Edilov, now using the name Otto Kaltenbrunner through his marriage to an Austrian woman. He had previously been the Director of Finance for Aslan Maskhadov, leader of the Chechen independence movement and President of the Republic from 1997 until his death at the hands of the FSB during the Second Chechen War. In his application for asylum Kaltenbrunner claimed that he’d been detained and tortured, and his brother murdered, by the FSB who were then hunting Maskhadov.
5. Ostensibly after Kurmakev—Dingo.
The Indictment of Umar Israilov Murder
Nevertheless KALTENBRUNNER was soon known among Chechens as a follower of the Chechen president Ramzan KADYROW, and the diaspora believed he had been ordered to collect information on Chechens living in Austria. His activities demonstrate that he at least indirectly supported KADYROW’s regime. In summer 2008 he founded the Tschetschenischer Kulturverein (Chechen cultural association). Ostensibly the association was set up to organise cultural events and meetings for members of the Chechen diaspora. Nonetheless, in spite of his diametrically opposed political views, individuals such as Suleyman Salmanovich DADAEV were able to become members of the association’s organising committee. In reality it seems KALTENBRUNNER only started the association, because he hoped it would help him collect information on Chechens living in and around ST. PÖLTEN, information which he would then pass on to the Chechen government. Demonstrative of this is the way in which he tried to make other Chechens join his association. So for example he called Raman DADUJEV 21 times between 2.10.2008 and 31.10.2008, with the aim of winning him over for his association – DADUJEV never called back during this time. Between 26.11.2008 and 9.12.2008 several more calls were made between the two- DADUJEV only made one of these calls. Yet when he did so it was only to call KALTENBRUNNER back moments after the two had spoken with each another – more than likely the line had been cut during their previous conversation. This suggests that it was extremely important for KALTENBRUNNER to win DADUJEV’s support. Photographs found on KALTENBRUNNER’s mobile phone prove that not only does he know KADYROW, but that they are actually friends. The photographs show him in a warm embrace with KADYROW clearly in a private setting.
Seven more Chechens living in Austria were rolled up; three were convicted of crimes related to the murder. The police established that the plan had once more been to kidnap Israilov or, failing that, to kill him.
Austrian court convicts Chechens over dissident's death
Otto Kaltenbrunner, Suleiman Dadayev and Turpal-Ali Yesherkayev were sentenced to life, 19 years and 16 years in prison respectively.
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Kaltenbrunner, Dadayev and Yesherkayev were charged with accessory to murder, forming a criminal organisation and attempted kidnapping.
Prosecutors had earlier called for them all to be given life sentences, while their lawyers had asked for acquittals.
The man who is believed to have actually fired the hail of bullets which killed Israilov, Lecha Bogatirov, is still on the run.
Lecha Bogatirov is a former Chechen policeman. He is believed to be in Russia. His name was included among the first to be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.
(It should be pointed out that Dadayev at one point claimed that he’d been forced into the scheme through threats from Dingo. His story had some holes in it, however, and it was believed he had concocted it to show that he was the victim. He did, however, have possession of a memory card which contained photos of the meeting between Israilov and Dingo. It was not explained how he’d come to possess it.)
Radio Free Europe describes several cases of Chechen plots to kill members of the diaspora in Europe and the Middle East, including how the hitmen are sometimes very much unwilling participants.
Chechen Exile's Claims Evoke Bloody Trail Traced To Russia
In a 2009 video posted on YouTube, a young Chechen man claimed that Kadyrov tasked him with assassinating Magomed Ocherhadji, a leader in the large Chechen exile community in Norway. The alleged hitman, identified as Ruslan Khalidov, claims he did not carry out the killing and says he was tortured and threatened in an attempt to force him to comply. "They even did things that I'm ashamed to talk about," he says in the video. The video was posted by kavkazcenter.com, a radical Chechen website that claimed the video is part of a more extensive confession by Khalidov.
Ocherhadji told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service in a 2009 interview that Khalidov had personally informed him of the plot against him. "I went to speak to him [Khalidov] after he sent me a message saying that Kadyrov wanted me to be killed," he said. "Naturally, I was somewhat taken aback. He told me Kadyrov and his people view me as a threat. Because of me, he said, they are afraid to travel to Norway."
The Eastern Project lists these and several other hits purportedly carried out by Chechens and/or Russians, and includes some other information about Ruslan Khalidov, the fellow who backed out of the hit in Norway describe above.
Killing the Dissidents
There have even been near misses in the effort to silence the dissidents. Magomed Ocherhadji, the leader of the Chechen community in Norway, was allegedly targeted for assassination. His would-be killer, Ruslan Khalidov, announced in a video that he had been contracted by Kadyrov to kill Ocherhadji. He also claimed that he had been blackmailed and tortured to force him to comply with the contract. Instead of killing Ocherhadji, he instead informed him of the plot. Khalidov’s fate since then is not known. What is interesting about him is that he is the nephew of Shaa Turlaev, a former presidential adviser and an alleged leader of a Chechen assassination squad charged with targeting Chechen dissidents abroad. Turlaev was said to be in Vienna immediately prior to the killing of Umar Israilov. Despite several other assassination attempts, Turlaev is said to be living openly in Chechnya.
That so many of Kadyrov’s henchmen turn out to have been tortured and/or made to act under threat to themselves or loved ones suggests that he well understands the benefit of expendable killers. It also might clear up why it was Kadyrov’s men who’d been rolled up for the murder of Boris Nemtsov. (See previous diary.) At the time it happened it seemed strange that he’d have ordered the hit without Putin’s ok. But perhaps Putin had called in a favour, and Kadyrov was perfectly happy to sacrifice his men so as to make the FSB look like it was doing its job.
In February 2009, less than a month after the killing, Novaya Gazeta found Dingo in Austria and queried him about the story he had told the police. He insisted that he had been libeled. Amazingly, he was arrested on immigration charges some four months later and put on a plane back to Russia. How he got away with having his offer to the Austrians made public is unknown. Perhaps he was able to show that he did, in fact, continue to work with Kaltenbrunner and the others towards either kidnapping or killing Israilov. He must have had to do some fast talking, in any case.
But the fact remains that he’d claimed to have been cooperating with the Chechen regime under duress. Perhaps his earlier misstep—and family back in Chechnya, or at home in Russia—had been held over his head in this latest mission in Kiev.
And that he’d been told to prove that he’d carried it out—or else …