A Man Who Ran Putin's Hit Squad [video]
The video features an interview with a former member of a Russian hit squad linked to Vladimir Putin, detailing his involvement in assassinations and the inner workings of the group.
Background
- The video features an interview with a former FSB (Russia's main security agency, successor to the KGB) colonel who claims to have run a covert assassination squad for Vladimir Putin. He describes carrying out targeted killings and poisonings of political enemies.
- Key prior context: The FSB has been widely accused of assassinating or poisoning Kremlin critics. Major cases include the 2018 novichok poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the UK, the 2020 poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the 2015 murder of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow.
- Why this matters: First-person insider accounts are rare and provide direct evidence supporting long-standing allegations that the Russian state runs a systematic, state-approved program of political assassinations — influencing international sanctions, legal cases, and public understanding.