Ukrainian police stage murder of Odesa businessman ordered by Russian secret services

Ukrainian law enforcement officers have foiled the attempted contract killing of a businessman and head of a local community organisation in Odesa Oblast.

Source: National Police of Ukraine; Prosecutor General’s Office; Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Ukrainska Pravda source in law enforcement agencies

Quote from the police: "As a result of a well-executed special operation, law enforcement officers have detained the person who ordered the crime. The suspect is a 43-year-old resident of another oblast."

Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda’s source, the target was Hennadii Beibutian, a 56-year-old Odesa resident and businessman whose "murder" had been reported by the media earlier. The suspect is believed to have received instructions to carry out the killing from the Russian secret services.

Upon receiving information about the planned assassination, investigators from the Odesa Oblast National Police, working alongside Security Service operatives and under the supervision of the Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office, carried out a special operation to document the crime and apprehend the suspect.

Law enforcement officers staged Beibutian’s murder, creating photo and video evidence as proof of the completed task, which they provided to the "hitman" to pass on to the person who ordered the murder.

That person was arrested in the course of receiving the "report".

The payment for the murder had been set at US$80,000, with US$70,000 promised to the hitman.

During the arrest, police seized a device believed to be a hand grenade, which has been sent for expert analysis.

Police have formally charged the suspect with attempted murder for hire, motivated by financial gain, as well as illegal possession of explosive devices.

At the police’s request, the court ordered that the suspect should be remanded in custody without bail.

The investigation continues. Law enforcement and the SSU are working to determine the motive for the crime and identify any other individuals who may have been involved, the National Police of Ukraine reported.

Quote from the Prosecutor General’s Office: "The suspect's involvement in organising assassination attempts on other Ukrainian figures ordered by Russian secret services, as well as other crimes against the national security of Ukraine, are being verified. 

Early reports say that in September 2024, the suspect arrived in Odesa to carry out another task of the Russian secret services – to organise the assassination of a well-known Odesa public activist for a reward of US$100,000."

For reference: Beibutian is the head of a public order unit called the Law Enforcement Assistance Unit.

This group patrolled the city during the curfew and accompanied employees of the local military enlistment office.

At the same time, the organisation was involved in a corruption investigation into the issuance of its certificates for money. At the end of September 2024, the deputy head of the organisation was detained on suspicion of helping people liable for military service to evade mobilisation.

In September 2021, Beibutian was involved in a scandal over the illegal seizure of power in the Laguna union of gardeners and individual cottage construction and an attack on journalists who came to cover the topic.

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