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key point
- Vladimir Oshekin said he was subjected to a possible assassination attempt at his home in France on September 12.
- Exiled human rights activist blames Russia’s FSB and organised crime for so-called strike
- French authorities investigating ‘threat’ against Oshekin
A prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin claims he survived an assassination attempt earlier this month by an individual with ties to Russian authorities and organized crime.
Exiled Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin said he was working in the dark from his home in the coastal town of Biarritz in southwestern France on September 12 when he was targeted up, CBS News report.
“I noticed a moving red dot on the railing of one of the patios and it moved towards me on the wall,” Oshekin, who was with his wife and children at the time, told AFP by phone.
“We turned off the lights, lay on the floor, closed the blinds and called the police,” the 41-year-old said.
Police and neighbors heard gunfire, according to operator Osechkin. gulagu net NGO tracking corruption and prison abuse in Russia.
on a monday interview Along with journalist Yulia Latynina, Osechkin identified the so-called potential assassin as someone with “close ties” to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and “organized crime.”
He declined to say whether the alleged gunman was in custody.
Osechkin attributes the alleged assassination attempt to the FSB’s retaliation for his work to gather evidence of prisoner abuse and the widely publicized recruitment of prisoners for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, moscow times report.
Osechkin allegedly received news a few days ago that a “Russian crime world boss” had arrived in France on a mission to kill people in the Biarritz region.
He praised Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev for revealing to him the alleged assassin’s actions.
Grozev is the lead Russia investigator for Bellingcat, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism organization that uses open source intelligence to publish detailed reports on Russian operatives.
French authorities are now investigating the threat to Ochekin following the alleged assassination attempt, a source close to the investigation told AFP on Tuesday.
The investigation is focused on threats and not attempted murder, said the source, who asked not to be named and declined to say whether any shots were fired during the incident.
He said Osechkin was under police protection after being told in February of an assassination plot against him.
Russian officials have yet to comment on Oshekin’s allegations, The Moscow Times reported.
Reuters/Sputnik