How Russia's President Putin escaped five assassination attempts

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There have been many attempts to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, a contentious political figure, if claims are to be believed.

Several people have been baying for the Russian strongman's blood, but Putin has always managed to escape unhurt.

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So far, there have been five assassination attempts on the Russian strongman, excluding the one that took place this week.

Here are some of the instances when some came close to ending Putin's life.

Start of the Ukraine war

Earlier in May, Ukraine’s Chief of Defence Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov revealed said there had been an “unsuccessful attempt” on Putin’s life at the start of the Russian-Ukraine war,reports The Sun

Speaking to Ukrainian Pravda, Major-General Budanov said, "Putin was attacked."

“He was even attacked in the line of, as they say, representatives of the Caucasus not so long ago. This is non-public information. Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really took place … It was about two months ago,” he added.

It was not clear who was behind the alleged attack or where it took place.

Azerbaijan

In 2002 during Putin's visit to Azerbaijan, an Iraqi man was held after plotting to kill the Russian leader.

The man was identified as an Iraqi citizen who was said to have links with Afghanistan and Chechen rebel forces.

He was set to deliver explosives to a co-conspirator. But by the time he could execute his plan, the security forces learned of the plot and arrested the man and his supposed accomplice.

Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Bombing Putin's motorway

In the same year in November, the authorities were tipped off about a plot to kill Putin.

According to local reports, they found 40kg of explosives waiting to be detonated along the motorway used by the 69-year-old Russian leader.

It was claimed that a group of people disguised as repairmen placed the bomb there. But an hour later, the devices mysteriously disappeared and Putin’s car was rerouted.

To this day, authorities refuse to reveal the matter and even deny that it ever took place.

UK Police thwart conspiracy

An anti-terror squad from British police reportedly foiled a plot to kill Putin in October 2003.

According to the Sunday Times, which quoted a source, two men suspected to be assassins were arrested for hatching a plot to kill Putin

One of the men was claimed to be a former Russian secret service hitman.

According to the report, these men had defected to Britain three years ago and were hired by a contract killer to assassinate Putin.

But the cops later released two men, aged 40 and 36after questioning and added that no further action would be taken against them.

Chechen rebel hatches a ‘plot’

In 2012, Rusian special forces captured a Chechen rebel, Adam Osmayev, who is said to have had links to the UK. He was caught in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa.

State TV later showed that he was paraded in public with visible injuries, supposedly making a confession.

“Our goal was to go to Moscow and try to kill Prime Minister Putin … Our deadline was after the Russian presidential election,” he was quoted as saying.

According to the Russian security services, Osmayev was “a graduate of a prestigious institution of higher learning in Great Britain”, and was from a prominent Chechen family opposed to Putin.

(With inputs from agencies)

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