Vladimir Putin’s Russia accused of chilling plot to use sniper to assassinate European leader in bid to halt NATO membership bid
Extraordinary allegations have been laid at the doors of Russia amid claims of plot to murder Montenegrin leader who wanted his nation to join NATO
A MOSCOW linked militia are being accused of conspiring to murder the prime minister of Montenegro in a sinister bid to curtail NATO power.
Prosecutors in the Balkan state have revealed explosive claims that nationalists from Russia hatched a plan to have a sniper shoot dead the leader as part of a coup attempt.
The conspirators are said to want to stop the tiny country – which used to be part of Yugoslavia – from ever joining NATO.
They have been accused of plotting to do this by toppling the pro-Western government and replacing it with a Moscow friendly one.
A gang of 20 suspects from neighbouring Serbia were arrested at the border last week.
The men, who are linked to Russian nationalist militias supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine, are accused of trying to recruit a skilled long-range marksman to assassinate long-serving PM Milo Djukanovic.
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Montenegrin state prosecutor Milivoje Katnic said: "The organisers of this criminal group were nationalists from Russia whose initial premise and conclusion was that the government in Montenegro led my Milo Djukanovic cannot be changed in election and that it should be toppled by force.
"State authorities revealed that a criminal group had been formed on the territories of Montenegro, Serbia and Russia with a task to commit an act of terrorism.”
"We don't have any evidence that the state of Russia is involved in any sense ... but we have evidence that two nationalists from Russia were organisers."
Russian officials have denied an involvement.
The drama happened days before Moscow’s arch rival NATO staged a civil emergency drill in Montenegro.
Meanwhile, Russian crack paratroopers poured into neighbouring Serbia for a mission code-named Slavic Brotherhood.
Vladimir Putin's Russia has been linked to the Montenegro assassination conspiracy because its military leadership favours “hybrid warfare”.
This blend of unconventional and conventional war can involve agents or militias not officially attached to a country’s forces.
Sometimes it aims to create a climate that justifies military intervention.
This underhand technique is said to have been used to seize Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Agents are said to have whipped-up tension among Crimeans with Russian heritage and under a pretext of helping them, Russia annexed the Black Sea nation.
The same cunning plan is alleged to have been used in the so called Donetsk People's Republic which has broken away from Ukraine.
It is widely believed that Moscow supports the rebels with an army of secret troops.
The Russians arrested on the Montenegrin border are said to have been involved in helping the Donetsk rebels.
Moscow has also been accused by Bulgaria’s president of tinkering with his country’s election.
Rosen Plevneliev warns of Russian meddling in his country’s presidential poll and across Europe and says the EU needs to take a stronger line.
On Sunday, a pro-Russia candidate made it through the first round of presidential elections.
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