Russian security services are hunting for one of their own in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, according to a report.
The suspected conspiracy came to light after a chance encounter between the would-be hitman — a rogue officer with an unspecified Russian law enforcement agency — and a businessman at a suburban karaoke bar, reported the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which claims close ties to Russia’s security apparatus.
Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs learned of the purported plan to kill Putin, who turns 71 Saturday, earlier this week from a specialist in the presidential administrative directorate.
The specialist had received an early-morning phone call from a man who identified himself as 37-year-old Mikhail Yurchenko, according to a source speaking to VChk-OGPU.
Yurchenko, who introduced himself as an entrepreneur in the construction field, said “with alarm” that he had been involved in a “strange story” while hanging in the swanky, chandelier-adorned karaoke bar Honey in the city of Chekhov, about 40 miles from Moscow.
A man believed to a Russian security service operative allegedly bragged at a karaoke bar called Honey that he had an assignment to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Yandex/east2west news
Security services are said to be on the hunt for the alleged would-be assassin of the president. APThe whistleblower said he met a stranger there with whom he ended up having a long “heart-to-heart” conversation “about the war and future life in Russia,” the Telegram channel reported.
At one point during the encounter, Yurchenko’s new acquaintance flashed a red service identification card at him “and declared that he had an assignment ‘to remove Vladimir Putin,'” according to VChK-OGPU.
Yurchenko did not argue with the man and quickly switched topics.
The businessman said he did not remember his drinking buddy’s name and did not get a good look at his ID card.
A businessman blew the whistle on the plot just days after his encounter with the purported security agent in the city of Chekhov. Yandex/east2west news
The prospective hitman allegedly showed his red ID card to the informant while the two of them were drinking at the karaoke club. Yandex/east2west newsHowever, the conversation did not sit well with Yurchenko, and after a couple of days “of worrying,” he went to the authorities with his account, which was said to have sparked a manhunt for the prospective assassin.
Acting on Yurchenko’s tip, law enforcement officers visited the karaoke bar to “study the situation” there.
The Telegram channel noted that the club in Chekhov is known to be popular with employees of various state agencies.
