Four arrested as France thwarts assassination attempt on Russian Putin opponent

France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) has arrested four people suspected of planning to assassinate Vladimir Osechkin, an “opponent of Vladimir Putin” living in the country, French daily Le Parisien reported on Thursday.

Osechkin, who founded Gulagu.net, a human rights group that investigates prison abuses in Russia, has lived in Biarritz since 2015.

The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said the suspects had been detained on 13 October as part of an investigation into a “terrorist conspiracy” to kill Osechkin.

The detainees, French and Russian citizens aged between 26 and 38, were planning to assassinate Osechkin in the city of Biarritz, PNAT continued. A criminal case has been opened. 

The men had made several trips from Paris and the city of Nantes to the area of Osechkin’s home in Biarritz, mostly in the spring of 2024, according to Le Parisien, which said three of the four arrested had ties to the republic of Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus. Video footage of Osechkin’s home was found on the phone of one of the detainees.

The suspects told police they did not know who had hired them, saying they had been tricked and led to believe that they were going to Biarritz on vacation, according to Le Parisien. DGSI, however, believes the men were planning to assassinate Osechkin on orders from Russia’s secret services. Osechkin has been under police protection since 2022.

“Yes, I can confirm that I am alive, and the criminals have been detained. ... Many thanks to France, the French National Police, the Security Service (SDLP) and DGSI. If it weren’t for their specialists and officers, I would no longer be alive,” Osechkin wrote on Telegram.