Putin’s party comrade in clinic
Knife attacker attacks Murmansk governor
April 5, 2024, 4:02 a.m
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The terrorist attack in Moscow continues to keep the Russian secret services on tenterhooks. Now there is a bloody attack on one of Putin’s party comrades: the governor of Murmansk is seriously injured in a knife attack. The background is unclear.
According to authorities, a senior politician from the Kremlin party United Russia was seriously injured in a knife attack in northwestern Russia. The 45-year-old governor of the Murmansk region, Andrei Chibis, had undergone surgery and was in a difficult condition, said the treating doctor. The suspected perpetrator was injured when he was arrested by security forces and was also receiving medical help, the Russian Investigative Committee said overnight.
The background to the attack is being investigated. Assassinations of representatives of the power apparatus are rare in Russia. According to investigators, Chibis met with citizens in the town of Apatity on the Kola Peninsula for a conversation, after which he was attacked with a knife by a resident. In order to clarify the motives for the crime, eyewitnesses would be interviewed, it was said.
Local media reported that the suspect was a 42-year-old railway employee who said that an inner voice had ordered him to attack the governor. He suffered a stab wound in the stomach area. A spokeswoman for the governor said on Russian state television that Chibis went to his car himself after the attack. He was then driven to the hospital and informed his wife himself to calm her down. The suspect is being interrogated, the spokeswoman said.
More arrests after terrorist attack in Moscow
After the terrorist attack in Moscow that left more than 140 dead, the Russian domestic secret service FSB said it arrested three more suspected accomplices. Two of those arrested are said to have transferred money to buy weapons and cars, the FSB said on Thursday afternoon. According to the investigation, the third man is said to be involved in recruiting accomplices and financing terrorists. According to the information, all three detainees came from Central Asia, although one had a Russian passport. Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Omsk were named as the places of arrest.
On March 22, four men shot and set fire to the Crocus City Hall concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow. At least 144 people were killed and around 550 people were injured in what was the worst terrorist attack in Russia in years. The four suspected shooters were arrested the next day. There were later over a dozen additional arrests of suspected supporters. According to state media, the suspects mostly come from Tajikistan in Central Asia.
The terrorist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack in several embassies. However, the Russian authorities insist, without any evidence, on the assumption that Ukraine or its Western supporters are the actual masterminds behind IS.