Mamihan Umarov

Last updated
Mamihan Mukhadiyevich Umarov
BornMarch 17, 1977
Argun, Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DiedJuly 4, 2020(2020-07-04) (aged 43)
Vienna, Austria
Cause of deathShot by a Russian agent
Known forAustrian blogger of Chechen origin, political emigrant.

Mamihan Umarov (German: Martin Beck; March 17, 1977 - July 4, 2020) was an Austrian blogger of Chechen origin, also known as Anzor from Vienna; political emigrant. He was known as an ardent opponent and critic of Ramzan Kadyrov's activities as head of the Chechen Republic in Russia. On July 4, 2020, he was shot and killed in Vienna by a Russian agent. [1] [2]

Contents

Life in Chechnya

Born on March 17, 1977, in the city of Argun, Shali district, Chechen-Ingush ASSR. He had a brother and two sisters: the brother was killed by the security forces. [3]

Between the First and the Second Chechen wars, during the recognition of the independence of Chechnya, Umarov was the investigator at the Ministry of Sharia State Security of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. [4]  After the return of Chechnya under the control of the federal authorities, Umarov was arrested several times and beaten during the interrogations. This affected on his decision to move from Russia to Austria. In 2005, Umarov moved to Austria due to the threat on his life. [5]

Emigration

He was granted political asylum and became a citizen of Austria. Since 2008 he collaborated with the Austrian secret services. [6] He became known among the Chechen audience as the author of a political video blog with more than 10,000 subscribers. He sharply criticized the Russian authorities and personally Ramzan Kadyrov. [7] 30 videos had been published on the channel. The popularity of Umarov's videos ranged from 100 to 500 thousand views.

In 2020, he said that since 2017 he was cooperating with Ukrainian special services, in particular, he warned Igor Mosiychuk and Adam Osmayev about receiving the order from Chechnya to kill them. He was the main witness in the cases of the attack on Amina Okuyeva and her husband Adam Osmayev (on October 30, 2017, unknown people shot their car near Kyiv: Okuyeva was killed, Osmayev was injured) and the terrorist attack under the building of the Espresso TV channel (October 25, 2017). [8]

He stated that the special operation to expose Russian killers, which he agreed to at the insistence of the SBU, was stopped after the coming to power of Volodymyr Zelensky and Ivan Bakanov. [9]

Assassination

He was shot in the back of the head in the suburbs of Vienna, near the G3 shopping center, at 7.30 pm on Saturday, July 4, 2020. [10] [11]

A few hours after the discovery of Umarov's body in Vienna, the police started the operation of pursuing the suspect in the murder: he was not showing any resistance during detaining. [12] [13] The detainee was a native of Chechnya, 48-year-old Sarali Akhtaev, [14] who moved to Europe in 2002. Umarov’s blood was found on the soles of Akhtaev's shoes.

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References

  1. ↑ "Murders of Chechen Refugees in Europe Become Increasingly Frequent". Jamestown. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  2. ↑ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Что известно об убийстве в Австрии критика Кадырова Мамихана Умарова | DW | 06.07.2020". DW.COM (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  3. ↑ "Зарема, вдова Анзора из Вены: "Это был мой долг – идти с ним и за ним"". RFE/RL (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  4. ↑ "Сотрудничал со спецслужбами Украины, оскорбил Кадырова. Что известно об убитом в Австрии чеченце". BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  5. ↑ "В Австрії застрелили політичного емігранта, який критикував лідера Чечні Кадирова". Радіо Свобода (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  6. ↑ Узел, Кавказский. "Анзор из Вены критиковал Кадырова в стиле убитого блогера Мансура Старого". Кавказский Узел. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  7. ↑ Узел, Кавказский. "Chechen native sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of blogger criticizing Kadyrov". Caucasian Knot. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  8. ↑ "У Відні застрелили свідка у справі вибуху поряд з телеканалом "Еспресо"". espreso.tv (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  9. ↑ Миллион (1000000$) за устранение | Откровение посредника заказных убийств , retrieved 2022-01-28
  10. ↑ "Mann in Gerasdorf mit Kopfschuss getötet: Verdächtiger festgenommen". www.oe24.at (in German). 2020-07-04. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  11. ↑ "Political Murder? Austria Probes Chechen's Checkered History For Clues In Killing". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  12. ↑ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Что известно об убийстве в Австрии критика Кадырова Мамихана Умарова | DW | 06.07.2020". DW.COM (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  13. ↑ "В Австрії затримали двох чеченців у справі вбивства Умарова". РБК-Украина (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  14. ↑ "Austrian court sentences Chechen 'gunrunner' to life in prison for Kadyrov critic's murder". Meduza. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
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