Breaking News
July 17, 2025 - Manchester United Increases Bid for Bryan Mbeumo to £70m July 17, 2025 - Timor-Leste and Myanmar Shine as Underdogs in ASEAN U-23 Championship July 17, 2025 - Lion City Sailors Sign Brazilian Striker Anderson Lopes in Ongoing Recruitment Drive July 17, 2025 - Women's World Transfer Record History: Olivia Smith Becomes First £1m Transfer in Women's Football July 17, 2025 - Liverpool in Talks for Ekitike, Isak Unavailable - Sources July 17, 2025 - Wolves Set to Sign Fluminense's Jhon Arias for €22 Million July 17, 2025 - Arsenal Breaks Women's Transfer Record to Sign Olivia Smith from Liverpool July 17, 2025 - Arsenal Signs Olivia Smith in Record Women's Football Transfer July 17, 2025 - Transfer Rumors: Man City and Bayern Target PSG's Donnarumma July 17, 2025 - FC Cincinnati vs. Inter Miami CF: MLS Game Stats and Leaders Revealed
  • HotRecentNews.com
  • World
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Health
HotRecentNews.com
Menu
  • World

  • Politics

  • Sports

  • Entertainment

  • Science

  • Technology

  • Health

Home / World / US Intelligence Agencies' Secret Memo: 'Putin Continues to Carry Out Murders'

US Intelligence Agencies' Secret Memo: 'Putin Continues to Carry Out Murders'

US Intelligence Agencies' Secret Memo: 'Putin Continues to Carry Out Murders'
No Comments 8
Facebook X
World November 26, 2024 16:40

amsterdam - An uncovered secret memo from 2016 reveals that US intelligence agencies believe Vladimir Putin will persist in carrying out assassinations abroad.

The memo, officially titled 'Kremlin-Ordered Assassinations Abroad Will Probably Persist', was unearthed by Jason Leopold, a journalist at Bloomberg news agency. After eight years of legal battles, the National Intelligence Council of the Office of The Director of National Intelligence released the document.

The memo, prepared in 2016, was a response to urgent requests from the Intelligence Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, prompted by the murders of Boris Nemtsov and the death of Mikhail Lesin in 2015.

Nemtsov, a charismatic politician and one of Vladimir Putin's biggest opponents, was shot dead in February 2015 on the Moskvoretsky Bridge, near the Kremlin. Coincidentally, all surveillance cameras on the bridge were 'turned off for maintenance' at the time. Five Chechens were eventually arrested for the murder. The main perpetrator, sentenced to 20 years in prison, later confessed after torture.

Mikhail Lesin, a former media czar of Vladimir Putin, officially 'died from the consequences of multiple falls' in a hotel room in Washington. The investigation revealed he had just concluded days of heavy drinking and succumbed to head, neck, and torso injuries. There was an ongoing US corruption investigation against him at the time.

In 2017, Buzzfeed reported that several intelligence agencies believed Lesin was murdered. An FBI agent cited by the website mentioned that no one in the intelligence services believed Lesin died from falls. The later autopsy report revealed a bone in Lesin's neck was broken, which typically does not happen from falls but rather from strangulation.

The US memo, however, does not delve into these two murders, likely because it couldn't be definitively proven that Putin was behind them. Instead, it mentions other possible murders attributed to Putin and his associates. The first noted by American intelligence services occurred in 2004 in Qatar when Chechen separatist Zelimkhan Jandarbijev was eliminated. Two Russian military intelligence GRU officers were arrested on the spot.

In 2006, the Kremlin even acknowledged that murder was part of the government's anti-terrorism policy. That year, Putin ordered the perpetrators behind the murders of four Russian diplomats in Iraq to be killed. The Russian parliament also passed a law in 2006 allowing terrorists to be killed outside the country's borders.

According to the memo, various opponents of Putin could end up on the hit list, including terrorists, dissidents, and defectors from intelligence services. Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy murdered in London in 2006 by exposure to the radioactive isotope polonium, fell into the latter category.

The death of Alexander Perepilitsyniy in 2012 may have also fit this category. He was about to testify about a major tax fraud in the Kremlin and allegedly died from 'natural causes' after a jog near London, although US intelligence suspects he may have been a victim of 'biological poison'.

The US memo also mentions political opponents of Putin as potential targets for liquidation, referencing the attempt to poison Ukrainian politician Viktor Yushchenko in 2004. Yushchenko survived an assassination attempt with the toxin dioxin. The death of Oleksandr Bednov, a separatist in Ukrainian Donbas opposed to Kremlin commands, is also attributed to Putin.

However, the memo leaves many other possible victims of Putin unmentioned, such as critical journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment in 2004. Or businessman Boris Berezovsky, engaged in a lengthy legal battle with Putin & co over ownership of his media companies and an oil company. He allegedly hanged himself in the UK in 2013, but the British pathologist left the cause of death open after the autopsy.

Since the memo's release, several prominent opponents of Putin have been killed or barely escaped assassination attempts, validating the document's assertion that Putin will not cease murdering. Dissident Alexei Navalny was most likely murdered in a Siberian penal colony, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin found himself in an exploding plane, and defected spy Sergei Skripal narrowly survived a Novichok nerve agent attack in the UK.

NEW TikTok Removes #SkinnyTok Worldwide After Pressure from Brussels and Paris

Leave a comment Cancel

reload

Trending Now

  • Today
  • Yesterday
  • Month
  • Comments
  • 1

    England Defeats Sweden in Dramatic UEFA Women's Euro Championship Shootout

    July 18, 2025
  • 2

    England Advances to Euro 2025 Semifinals After Dramatic Shootout Victory Over Sweden

    July 18, 2025
  • 3

    England's Dramatic Win Over Sweden in Euro 2025 Quarterfinals

    July 18, 2025
  • 1

    USMNT Stars Transfer Targets for 2026 World Cup Preparation

    July 17, 2025
  • 2

    Manchester United vs Leeds: Preseason Friendly Kick-off Time and Key Details

    July 17, 2025
  • 3

    Barcelona's Ter Stegen Contemplating Back Surgery, Could Face Lengthy Absence

    July 17, 2025
  • 4

    Chelsea Pursuing Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers in Major Summer Transfer Move

    July 17, 2025
  • 5

    Euro 2025: England vs Sweden Quarterfinal Live Updates

    July 17, 2025
  • 1

    Flamengo Upsets Chelsea in Club World Cup Clash

    June 20, 2025
  • 2

    María Sánchez Completes Move to Liga MX Femenil's Tigres

    June 21, 2025
  • 3

    André Onana Prefers to Stay at Manchester United Amid Monaco Interest

    June 21, 2025
  • 4

    Concacaf Gold Cup: USMNT vs. Haiti Live Updates at AT&T Stadium

    June 23, 2025
  • 5

    Arsenal Balk at Sesko's Wage Demands, Transfer Rumors Swirl

    June 23, 2025
Hot Recent News
The HOTRECENTNEWS.com is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SEARCH

  • World News

Back to Top