Abakar Abakarov – a Putin enemy on the Russian international most wanted list – was mysteriously found dead & ‘covered in stab wounds’ after he fled to Turkey to hide out
One of Vladimir Putin’s enemies was mysteriously found “stabbed to death” while living in exile in Turkey.
Abakar Abakarov, 49, was on Russia’s international wanted list, accused of inciting anti-Kremlin riots in the country’s tinderbox region Dagestan. Dictator Putin had previously accused Ukraine and Western intelligence of “trying to instigate pogroms in Russia”, back in 2023. Russian authorities linked Abakarov – who ran anti-Kremlin Telegram channel Morning Dagestan – to this apparent case. Abakarov had fled to Turkey and is believed to have been living under an assumed name while trying to avoid Russian hitmen, according to reports.
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The Putin enemy’s body was found at a rented villa in Istanbul by a cleaner. A Russian channel, with links to the country’s security agency, said he died from multiple stab wounds.
Abakarov had been missing for more than a week, before his dead body was dramatically found. Turkish authorities launched an investigation but have not commented on the case.
In October 2023, an angry anti-Semitic mob staged a revolt at Makhachkala airport in Dagestan, vowing to hunt down and kill Jewish people as a plane arrived from Tel-Aviv.
More than 20 people were injured during the clashes, including nine police officers. The Russian FSB security service was seeking Abakarov’s arrest in connection with this unrest and his anti-Putin activities.
At the time, Putin raged: “The events in Makhachkala were inspired, including through social networks, partially from the territory of Ukraine, by the hands of the Western intelligence agencies.” Abakarov was seen as close to former Russian MP politician Ilya Ponomarev, now a Ukrainian citizen, who was also accused in absentia by Moscow over the unrest.
This mysterious case comes in the same week that French police dramatically arrested a suspected Putin death squad on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Vladimir Osechkin, 44. Osechkin is an exiled human rights campaigner who has exposed torture and brutality in Russia’s jails, including against foes of the dictator.
The suspects aged between 26 and 38 were held near Biarritz, where Putin enemy Osechkin lives. They were originally from the same Russian region of Dagestan as Abakarov.
Osechkin had become an enemy of Moscow after he exposed the use of rape and sexual violence in Putin’s jails and claimed Alexei Navalny was tortured before he was killed in an Arctic prison.
The Moscow enemy said: “I want to say merci beaucoup….. to the French police [who detained suspected assassins]. Many thanks to the DGSI [France’s intelligence agency] and everyone who took part in catching those thugs, killers, and losers, and to all who work to stop such dirty, bloody Putin schemes in Europe and in France.
“Once again, enormous thanks and deep respect to the French police and to those personally responsible for my protection and safety. It’s obvious that if it weren’t for this highly professional, competent security service, Putin’s assassins would have killed me long ago.”