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Russia

Inside The Foiled Plot -- Real Or Fake? -- To Assassinate Vladimir Putin

While commentators debate who stood to gain from an alleged plot to kill Putin just days before the presidential election, there is reputed evidence going back several months that might connect the dots.

Channel One's exclusive report of the raid
Channel One's exclusive report of the raid

MOSCOW – Word had come down that a plot to kill Vladimir Putin had been foiled by Russian intelligence services just a week before presidential elections.

But it soon emerged that journalists from Russia's Kremlin-controlled Channel One, which first reported the story Monday, had come across the information several days before it was made public. That revelation has led many to doubt the claims, and suspect it was some kind of pre-election shenanigans ahead of the March 4 ballot where Putin is favored to return to the Kremlin.

A spokesperson for Channel One says those who see it as an electoral PR stunt are suffering from "mental illness."

The network had reported that Chechen Adam Osman and Kazakh citizen Ilya Pyanzin were detained in Odessa, Ukraine, in connection with the thwarted plot, with the arrested men themselves admitting to the possession of a cache of weapons in Moscow that included explosives and detonators.

But the online newspaper gazyeta.ru reported that journalists learned of the impending raid several days earlier. Political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin described news of the supposed threat to Putin's life ahead of next week's presidential elections as "very well-timed."

The leader of the opposition Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin - who has been denied permission run for president - said it was "obvious that the Ukrainian stamp on the attempt was needed to strengthen the credibility of the fable because no one would have believed only the FSB (intelligence services)."

Leader of the movement In Defense of Khimki Forest quipped that the news of a plot on Putin's life was "a morning helping of Odessan humor from the FSB."

Channel One's press department said such reactions were "a clear sign that mental illness is spreading through the election campaign."

Escape to UK

Osman had been on the international Most Wanted list since 2007 after his arrest on charges of preparing with a group of Chechens an assassination attempt on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. After insufficient evidence was presented, Osman was freed on bail, after which he fled to the United Kingdom.

Last year, North Caucasus militant leader Doku Umarov proposed organizing a new attack. Osman came to Ukraine on forged documents and fellow Chechen native Ruslan Madaev arrived from the UAE, along with Ilya Pyanzin from Kazakhstan. They rented an apartment and started studying the production and use of explosives, according to Pyanzin.

During one training exercise at the start of January, a bomb went off in Madaev's hands, killing him and injuring Pyanzin. Osman was not in the apartment at that time, and would eventually go into hiding in Odessa.

Initially firefighters thought there had been a gas explosion in the apartment, but upon closer inspection, traces of explosives were found. Then, Pyanzin, who was recovering, testified to Ukraine's secret service (SBU) that they were planning an attack on Russia's prime minister soon after the presidential election, with Madaev acting as the bomber.

The SBU informed the FSB and Osmayev was arrested on Feb. 4, when his father arrived in Odessa from Russia, after mobile phone calls between the two had been intercepted. Whether his father was involved in the plot is now being ascertained.

It is hard to predict what will happen next. First of all, a case is likely to be filed in Ukraine with charges of trafficking in explosives and preparing an act of terrorism. But if charges are to be filed in Russia, it will have to go through the Ukrainian judicial process first.

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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