ASSASSINATED?

Report: Putin Sanctioned Whistleblower’s Murder in Paris

The U.K. is allegedly concealing evidence of an assassination.

Members of the British intelligence community believe a Russian whistleblower who died in Paris in 2012 was assassinated on Russian President Vladimir Putin's orders, BuzzFeed reports. But the British government is reportedly sitting on information that would reveal the alleged murder plot, to the frustration of their intelligence counterparts in France and the U.S. Alexander Perepilichnyy, a Russian financier who blew the whistle on Russian financial crime, was found dead in his U.K. apartment shortly after returning from Paris in 2012. Though an expert found traces of poison in Perepilichnyy's stomach, British officials stated that there was no evidence of foul play in his death. But BuzzFeed's investigation revealed that French police are treating Perepilichnyy's as a suspected organized assassination, and that a classified report compiled by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence states with “high confidence” that Putin had directly authorized Perepilichnyy's alleged assassination. French and U.S. officials are reportedly frustrated by the U.K. apparent reluctance to share investigation materials and proceed with the investigation.