11:41, 17 October 2025

French media reported the arrest of natives of Dagestan in connection with the assassination attempt on Osechkin*.

Four people, including three natives of Dagestan, have been detained in France for plotting to assassinate Vladimir Osechkin*, founder of the Gulagu.net project.

Four men, aged 26 to 38, were detained by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) on suspicion of plotting to murder an opponent living in Biarritz, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported, citing the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT).

The assassination attempt was thwarted at the last minute. An investigation is underway on charges of participating in a terrorist organization with the intent to prepare one or more crimes against the individual.

According to Le Parisien, the assassination attempt was directed against Vladimir Osechkin*, founder of the Gulagu.net project, but the National Anti-Terrorism Program declined to name the alleged target. Le Parisien claims that three of the detainees are from Dagestan, and one is a French citizen. The detainees denied the charges, saying they were there on vacation.

Vladimir Osechkin confirmed to AFP reporters that he was the target of a planned attack and thanked the police for capturing the suspects.

"Yes, I confirm." "I'm alive, the scoundrels have been detained," Osechkin* also wrote on his Telegram channel, publishing excerpts from French publications.

"Caucasian Knot" reported that in November 2021, the human rights project Gulagu.net (directed by Vladimir Osechkin*) published video evidence of violence and torture against residents of Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan in a Saratov prison hospital. These materials demonstrate that long-standing complaints of torture in penal institutions are not an exaggeration by lawyers and human rights activists. Information on several high-profile cases of violence and torture against natives of the Caucasus in Russian prison colonies is provided in the reference material "Vicious Circle: What is Known About the Torture of Residents of the Caucasus in Prison Colonies?".

In February, the Meshchansky Court of Moscow sentenced Vladimir Osechkin*, founder of the Gulagu.net project, in absentia to eight years in prison for allegedly publishing fake news about the Russian army (paragraph "d" of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, up to ten years' imprisonment), the press service of the Moscow courts of general jurisdiction reported at the time. According to the investigation and the court, Osechkin* disseminated knowingly false information about the actions of the Russian army online from March to November 2022.

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* is listed as a foreign agent.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416399