Bloodied face of Putin 'assassin': Chechen rebel with British links captured after 'plotting to kill Russian premier'

Chechen suspect: Dramatic footage aired on Russian TV today showed a half-naked and wounded Adam Osmayev seized by special forces in Odessa, Ukraine, earlier this month, when he was arrested in connection with a foiled 'plot' to assassinate Vladimir Putin

UK links: The Russian security services have previously claimed that Osmayev was 'a graduate of a prestigious institution of higher learning in Great Britain', and is from a prominent Chechen family opposed to Putin

'Confession': Osmayev, with the wounds on his face coated in iodine, is led to a questioning cell in an unknown Russian detention centre. He has been on Russia's wanted list for a number of years

Security operation: Osmayev was seized when forces stormed a property in Odessa on February 4 (pictured)

The Russian security services have previously claimed that Osmayev was 'a graduate of a prestigious institution of higher learning in Great Britain', and is from a prominent Chechen family opposed to Putin.

Shown on Russian state-run TV with his hands bandaged and wounds on his face, Osmayev has been on Russia's wanted list for a number of years.

 

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He is believed to have lived 'for many years' in London, which, if true, will inflame Russian concerns that Britain is a safe haven for alleged Islamic extremist terrorist suspects from Chechnya.

The arrests of two suspects was made by the Ukrainian special services anti-terrorist unit Alfa after an accidental explosion early last month in an Odessa apartment which killed a third alleged terrorist, Ruslan Madayev.

The revelation comes in the final week of campaigning for Sunday's presidential election which Putin is virtually certain to win convincingly despite recent opposition street protests against his authoritarian rule.

Plot: Released today by the Russian authorities, this January 4 photo shows the aftermath of an explosion in another apartment in Odessa. Two people were detained and one killed in the blast which officials claim is linked to Osmayev's arrest

Damaged interior: Ukrainian Security Service said it detained three Russian citizens on terrorist charges in Odessa a month after the explosion

Russia's Channel One TV station claimed the suspects were plotting to kill Putin in Moscow immediately after Sunday's presidential election, in which he is all but certain to reclaim the presidency

Security threat: Another suspected militant, Ilya Pyanzin, also appeared to 'confess' on Russian television

Foiled: On Osmayev's laptop was found hidden camera footage of Putin's motorcade in Moscow, and it is believed this was to be the target of the assassination bid. Here, the PM can be seen wearing a white shirt

'We are going different ways': A protester holds a poster of Vladimir Putin in Moscow yesterday

Osmayev, believed to be 30, and fellow gang members were on a mission ordered by Chechnya's most wanted rebel leader Doku Umarov, it was claimed.

In January last year, Umarov targeted passengers emerging from British flights at a Moscow airport. A total of 37 died and 180 were injured.

His goal is an Islamic state based on Chechnya and run under Sharia law in the tinderbox Caucasus region.

The alleged plotters, all ethnic Chechens, came to Ukraine from the United Arab Emirates via Turkey with 'clear instructions from representatives of Doku Umarov', it was claimed.

On Osmayev's laptop was found hidden camera footage of Putin's motorcade in Moscow, and it is believed this was to be the target of the assassination bid.

Footage was shot 'so that we had an understanding of how he was protected', said Osmayev, who allegedly planned to use military mines to assassinate the premier.

'The end goal was to come to Moscow and to try to stage an assassination attempt against premier Putin,' he said. 'The deadline was after the election of the Russian president.'

Russia's Channel One television station said the suspect had revealed to investigators the site of a cache of explosives already in place near Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a major Moscow highway used daily by Putin in a heavily-armoured limousine to go to and from work.

An FSB official said the explosives would have created 'a serious blast, powerful enough to tear apart a truck'.

The British-educated man is co-operating with Ukrainian interrogators hoping that this will avoid his extradition to Russia.

Unity: More than 30,000 peaceful protesters held hands to form a ten-mile human chain around central Moscow

Determined: The demonstrators want to keep up the pressure on Putin as he prepares to extend his rule for six more years

Another suspect Ilya Pyanzin, who had a Kazakh passport, said: 'They told us that first you come to Odessa and learn how to make bombs.

'And then later, in Moscow, you will stage attacks against commercial objects, with the subsequent assassination attempt against Putin.'

The existence of the plot was confirmed by Putin's spokesman as well as the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and its Russian counterpart the Federal Security Service (FSB).

'I confirm this information but am not commenting now,' said Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

News of the arrests comes a day after thousands of protesters held hands to form a ten-mile human chain around Moscow city centre.

Across the country: Supporters of the opposition protest took to the streets of St Petersburg yesterday

Determined: A man holds a poster of Putin wearing a crown that reads 'Down with autocracy' during the St Petersburg rally

Some analysts were suspicious of the timing of the assassination bid report since the first arrest was made on January 4 and the second - Osmayev - on February 4.  They claimed the incident was being used for political reasons to overshadow protests about Putin.

'It just seems like an incredible coincidence that these monsters were discovered today,' said independent military analyst Alexander Golts.

'From now on, anyone who is against the prospects of Putin's election as president will be put on the same playing field as the terrorists.'

Opposition leaders also reacted with scepticism.

Opposition parliamentarian Gennady Gudkov said: 'Without a doubt there is always information about preparations or attempted terrorist attacks.

But what does it really mean that (news of) this assassination attempt appears today? The timing was certainly political.'

Another opposition leader, Vladimir Ryzhkov, said that 'assassination attempts are the favourite tactic of dictators'.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed such allegations as 'inappropriate' given the 'real threats for Putin's security'. On Monday Putin, 59, chaired a meeting on arms trade in his residence outside Moscow.

Allegations of widespread fraud in a parliamentary election on December 4 have angered many liberals and nationalists in Moscow and St Petersburg, and some Russians are alarmed that he could rule Russia for another 12 years if he wins two more terms.    

Previous reports of assassination attempts have rarely made a big impact in Russia. The FSO spokeswoman said such attempts had taken place but declined to specify.      

In one of the incidents, a sniper was widely reported to have been preparing to shoot at Putin and his ally, President Dmitry Medvedev, as they walked outside the Kremlin after Medvedev's victory in the 2008 presidential election.         

Putin has remained the more powerful of the two, despite stepping aside to become premier in 2008 because of constitutional limits.       

Russia has a long history of assassinations. Tsar Alexander II was killed by a bomb in 1881 and Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin was shot in a theatre in 1911.   

A plot to kill Soviet dictator Josef Stalin along with the British and U.S. leaders was foiled in 1943, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was shot at in 1969, and Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin survived several attempts to kill him. An attempt on President Boris Yeltsin's life was reported in 1993.

But no acting Soviet head of party, state or government was assassinated, and no Russian president or prime minister has been assassinated since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

VIDEO: "Let them be afraid of us" - Putin 

VIDEO: Report on the assassination plot