Did Chechen leader Kadyrov order the assassination of Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia?

Director of opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi [Geo. Main Channel] Nika Gvaramia claims Russian citizen Vasambek Bokov, who was detained on June 12 in Tbilisi during a special operation, was preparing for the assassination of Mtavari Arkhi journalist Giorgi Gabunia.

The alleged reason: the journalist’s scandalous broadcast on the air of Rustavi 2 last year on July 7 last year, in which Gabunia cursed Russian President Vladimir Putin and his mother. 

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According to Gvaramia, Bokov was detained for a different reason in Georgia:

“The counterterrorism service of Georgia detained a Russian citizen, Vasambek Badrievich Bokov, an ethnic Ingush born on December 21, 1982. The official reason for the arrest is not related to the planned assassination of Giorgi Gabunia by order of Ramzan Kadyrov, which the Georgian authorities became aware of by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies,” Nika Gvaramia said, adding that Gabunia had been under surveillance for several months.

According to Gvaramia, Gabunia’s assassination was being planned and coordinated in Ukraine, while direction came from Chechnya.

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Gvaramia said that at first the Georgian side regarded the information from Ukraine as a provocation of the Georgian lobby, but the state nevertheless ensured Gabunia’s safety.

The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, warned Giorgi Gabunia of the consequences immediately after the latter’s public cursing of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Then Kadyrov said that “the Russian president is respected by millions of young people” and advised the Georgian journalist to hide safely.

The State Security Service of Georgia has not yet commented on this topic.