Putin Critic Denis Voronenkov Assassinated In Kiev

Denis Voronenkov, a former Russian parliamentarian living in exile in Ukraine, was shot dead on the sidewalk in front of the Premier Palace Hotel by a Daewoo driving assassin in gray sweats. His state-provided bodyguard was shot in the chest and is currently hospitalized. Though he failed to save Voronenkov, the bodyguard was able to mortally wound the assassin who reportedly died at the hospital.

Voronenkov, 45, had fled Russia in October with his wife, Maria Maksakova, also a member of the State Duma, after the couple had come under investigation. The army colonel turned lawmaker was by all appearances just another Putin-pliant member of parliament until as he and his wife claimed, they had become the victims of persecution by the FSB.

This is how he was described in a Radio Free Europe article from a week ago:

A former Communist Party legislator elected in the 2011 Russian vote viewed by many as rigged, Voronenkov is perhaps best known for co-authoring the 2014 bill in the State Duma that banned the foreign ownership of Russian media, a move Bloomberg View columnist Leonid Bershidsky called "perhaps the single worst thing that happened to press freedom as an institution in Putin's Russia."

Now, though, Voronenkov appears to have flipped, becoming a fiery critic of most everything he once supported in Russia and a citizen of Ukraine, to boot.

In recent months the Russian MP, who'd once contentedly played ball, had become a serious thorn in Putin's side, spouting his vocal criticism in interview after interview, including one that had been done only days ago with the Washington Post. In January, the former insider provided testimony to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office in the treason case of former President Viktor Yanukovych and had expressed a willingness to testify further.

He was reportedly on his way to a meeting with another ex-Russian lawmaker in exile in Ukraine, Ilya Ponomarev, the only member of the State Duma (out of over 400) to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Ponomarev said that Voronenkov was planning to investigate corruption and money laundering in Russian law enforcement and was also quoted in the Kyiv Post saying:

“Denis was a valuable gain for Ukraine. He really knew a lot about the most vulnerable element of Putin’s authority – their financial flows,” he added.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the assassination "an act of state terrorism ordered by Russia" and said it had "obvious hallmarks of Russian secret service involvement." Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko stated that Voronenkov was a source of valuable information and like Poroshennko, pointed the finger for the murder at Russian security services.

Voronekov's famous mother-in-law, Lyudmila Maksakova, had something entirely different to say about the assassination of her daughter's husband which isn't entirely unexpected as the couple, and Voronekov in particular have been portrayed heavily as traitors to Russia by the state-run media. She was quoted by Life.ru saying:

"Well, thank God, what else is there to do with him?

"Thank God that in the end... a man who was so mean, he is a military man, he would have been shot for treason long ago."

Life in the fast lane.

Considering his checkered past it is quite possible that Russia had him eliminated. That is how they tend to deal with turncoats.

On the other hand ... it could have been the CIA for all we know. It could have been a financial deal gone sour. He may have owed money ... etc etc ..........

We will likely never know for sure but ... many will point the accusing finger at anyone they don't know.

Of course it will have the hallmarks of a Russian hit ... it is an obvious ploy to make it look like someone else did it.

Or ... Russia delivering a lesson to turncoats.

P

Russia has form in assassinating political critics and opponents.

That said, there is so much corruption and criminality in Russian politics it would be difficult to identify the culprit, but difficult not to look at the Russian authorities.

originally posted by: paraphi
Russia has form in assassinating political critics and opponents.

That said, there is so much corruption and criminality in Russian politics it would be difficult to identify the culprit, but difficult not to look at the Russian authorities.

lol:

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...:Assassinated_Russian_politicians

en.wikipedia.org...:Assassinated_Russian_diplomats

en.wikipedia.org...

Time to wake up!

Putin is The Russian Mafia. He is the #ing Godfather. I have known it for years. Isn't it all a bit obvious now.

Man, sometimes you just got to call a spade a spade:

news.bbc.co.uk...

Let's be clear. This is what happens to you if you mess with Vlad The Impaler, be sure of it:

a reply to: Revolution9

Political Correctness: Being polite and considerate about MASS MURDERING TYRANTS!

Too bad ....maybe .Russians killing Russians ..go team . It probably wont start a war though ,or end one . Condolences to loved ones .

a reply to: theantediluvian

Could it be just one of 3 suspicious deaths surrounding the $230 million Russian Government Fraud Investigation? Would make sense. Also Russian Lawyers, Nikolai Gorokhov, Sergei Magnitsky

a reply to: theantediluvian

I was hoping someone was going to pick this up

I'll bet there are a lot of Go Bags being put to use right now - and a lot of information gone missing

What is taking you so long to link this to Mannafort and Trump?