Did Putin put out a contract on a Russian whistleblower and critic?

The World
Former lawmaker of the Russian State Duma Denis Voronenkov and his wife Maria Maksakova pose for a picture in Kiev, Ukraine February 27, 2017. Voronenkov was assassinated March 23, 2017 in Kiev.

"An act of state terrorism by Russia."

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko did not mince words about neighboring Russia following the assassination of an outspoken Kremlin critic in Kiev.

Denis Voronenkov, 45, was gunned down in broad daylight in front of a luxury hotel in the center of the city Thursday. He was a former member of the Russian parliament before he renounced his citizenship and emigrated last October to Ukraine where he became a citizen.

While in Kiev, Voronenkov was openly critical of President Vladimir Putin and other pro-Russian leaders. Correspondent Anna Nemtsova, with Newsweek and The Daily Beast, remembers the last time she spoke to Voronenkov.

"Just imagine a US officer went to some foreign country and the day he left, he started giving interviews and criticizing the Kremlin," she said, calling him a "classic whistleblower."

Voronenkov had criticized Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, even though he voted for the takeover while serving as a lawmaker in Russia's parliament, the Duma. And he was also helping Ukrainian prosecutors in their case against former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, a Putin ally who is accused of treason. 

In a statement on Thursday, Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, said, "Voronenkov was one of the main witnesses of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the role of Yanukovych in bringing troops to Ukraine." 

Nemtsova says Voronenkov was considered a traitor by many Russians. Even his mother-in-law, she says, was happy Voronenkov was killed. 

Voronenkov and his wife, Maria Maksakova, also a former Russian lawmaker, fled Russia for Ukraine after he was accused of corruption. Nemtsova says Voronenko told her those charges were false and brought against him for retribution.  

Poroshenko did not hesitate in pointing the finger at Russia. "The despicable murder of Denis Voronenkov ... is an act of state terrorism by Russia, [a country] he was forced to leave for political reasons. Russia's special services were involved in it."

The Kremlin fought back against claims that it was involved. Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Maria Zakharova, called statements by the Ukrainian president shocking. Through Russia's news agency, TASS, Zakharova said statements by "Kiev and the global media who put the blame of Russia within an hour after the murder ... indicate the true goals of the Ukrainian state. The state is either interested in the investigation and does everything possible to facilitate it or it stirs up hysteria around this bloody crime."   

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