Four years ago, on February 27, 2012, Russian state television Channel 1 reported that a plot to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin was to take place ahead of the presidential elections on March 4, 2012. The election saw Mr. Putin return as president of Russia for a third non-consecutive term after switching roles with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
The prime suspect in the plot was Chechen militant Doku Umarov. The Interfax news agency reported that the plot was uncovered after Ukrainian intelligence agents detained two Russian citizens in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa in connection with an accidental bomb blast in the city in January 2012.
Video shown by Channel 1 depicted a suspect named Ilya Pyanzin, a 28-year-old Kazakh citizen. Other suspects included a Russian national, Ruslan Madayev, who was later killed in the bomb blast, and a third suspect, Adam Osmayev, an ethnic Chechen. Channel 1 claimed that the men received instruction from Mr. Umarov.
Channel 1 quoted Mr. Osmayev as saying the attackers were prepared to use anti-tank mines. The assassination plot was confirmed by Mr. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Duma Deputy Sergei Mironov, a presidential candidate and head of A Just Russia, was quoted in a Washington Post article about the plot. Mr. Mironov said, “The event dates back to February 4 and news about it has emerged today, on the last week before voting. I have a feeling that all this is not a mere coincidence.”
Source: “Alleged plot to kill Putin foiled,” RFE/RL Russian Service, The Ukrainian Weekly, March 4, 2012.