Russian defectors, Putin critics suffer mysterious, violent deaths | 60 Minutes

The Mysterious Russian Death Syndrome and Putin's War on the West

• The term "mysterious Russian death syndrome" refers to the unexplained and violent deaths of President Vladimir Putin's enemies, including falls from high windows, poisonings, and unsolved shootings, which have increased since the invasion of Ukraine two years ago (1s).
• Russia is on a "sustained mission" to generate mayhem on British and European streets, according to the head of Britain's domestic spy agency MI5, as part of what US intelligence officials call Putin's war on the West (22s).
• A horrific murder took place in the seaside resort town of Via Hoosa, Spain, where a Russian victim was found riddled with bullet holes in a parking garage, resembling a mafia-style contract killing (1m6s).
• The victim, 28-year-old Russian Maxim Kusmanov, was a military helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine after being recruited online by Ukrainian Intelligence Officers in 2023 (2m14s).

The Assassination of Maxim Kusmanov in Spain

• Kusmanov handed over a helicopter, sensitive military equipment, and top-secret Russian intelligence to Ukraine in exchange for half a million dollars and a new Ukrainian identity (2m49s).
• Kusmanov's Ukrainian handlers warned him not to leave the country due to fears that Putin would send a Russian military kill team after him, but he ignored the warning (3m35s).
• The murder was captured on security cameras, which showed two assassins entering the garage, hiding in the backseat of their car, and waiting for five hours before spraying Kusmanov with bullets (4m2s).
• The assassins used a silencer, as no gunshots were heard, and they fled the scene, burning the getaway car with an industrial-grade accelerant (4m33s).
• Maxim Kusmanov, a Russian defector, was found murdered in Spain, with his car discovered on the other side of a tunnel in an isolated area, suggesting the killers had local help and were likely professionals with prior experience (4m52s).
• The murder bears the hallmarks of a professional hit, with the killers surveilling Kusmanov for weeks or months beforehand and using Russian ammunition, which may have been left behind as a signature to imply Moscow's involvement (5m17s).
• Kusmanov did not live a quiet life in Spain, often drinking at a local bar and bragging about his true identity, which may have made him a target (5m51s).
• The investigation into Kusmanov's death has been taken over by the Spanish Civil Guard, equivalent to the FBI, but there is a gag order in place, and authorities have said little about the case publicly (6m8s).
• If it is proven that Russia is behind Kusmanov's death, Spain has warned that it will issue a forceful response, but so far, no action has been taken (6m22s).

Investigation, Aftermath, and Russian Celebration of Kusmanov's Death

• Kusmanov's death was celebrated on Russian state television, and a former Russian prime minister made a blunt comment about his death, saying "a dog's death" (6m42s).
• Photos of men identified as persons of interest in the case have been obtained, including a former KGB officer and a Russian police colonel, which may indicate Russian government involvement (7m0s).
• Michael Weiss, a researcher on Russian intelligence services, believes that the Russian special services were likely responsible for Kusmanov's murder (7m23s).
• In a bizarre twist, Ukrainian intelligence officers conducted a misinformation campaign, using an elaborate disguise to make it appear as though Kusmanov had survived the assassination attempt and was still working for Ukraine (7m54s).
• The real Kusmanov was buried in an unmarked grave in southern Spain, and the Spanish government has not publicly condemned the murder, possibly to avoid panic among tourists (8m25s).
• Western governments may be looking the other way in some cases, as acknowledging Russian involvement in the murder could lead to panic and diplomatic tensions (8m46s).

Other Mysterious Deaths and Russia's Disruption in Europe

• There have been over 60 mysterious deaths of Putin's enemies in Russia and Europe since the Ukraine War began, including gas executive Sergey Protas and his family, who died in a reported murder-suicide in Spain, and Dimitri Zelenov, who died from head injuries after falling down stairs in the French Riviera (8m58s).
• Many of these deaths have involved individuals falling out of windows or dying in crashes, leaving European officials concerned about how much Putin gets away with (9m27s).
• The European Union's ambassador to the United States, Rita Neipu, believes that if Putin is not stopped at his borders, he will continue to march on, and that Russia has been linked to attacks on infrastructure around Europe, including targeting arms shipments and railways (9m39s).
• Neipu thinks that Russia is challenging the order and stability of Europe, testing how much they can get away with, and that these sabotage and cyber attacks are happening on EU and NATO territory (10m0s).
• In addition to assassinations, Russia has been implicated in sabotage attacks, including a firebombing at a German factory owned by a leading weapons company, an attack on a shopping mall in Poland, and the cutting of an underwater gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea (10m41s).
• The EU has announced new sanctions aimed at organizations and people that carry out violence for Russia, and the question is whether sanctions and diplomacy are working (11m5s).
• The EU's ambassador believes that if sanctions and diplomacy are not used, the war would be on a different scale and with a different attitude, but as of now, Russia is not winning (11m30s).
• The ambassador thinks that what Russia is doing in Europe is a warning for the United States and everyone else, and that they need to be vigilant (11m55s).

The Threat of Russian Assassinations in the US and the Case of Alexander Pov

• The US Department of Justice is leading the legal fight against Russia, and the head of the National Security division, Matt Olsen, is concerned that what happened to Russian defector Maxim Kusmanov in Spain could happen in the US (12m59s).
• Putin's critics are being targeted and eliminated, not just to silence them, but also to send a message to others who might consider speaking out against him, making it clear that he is not hiding his intentions (13m28s).
• The Department of Justice has prosecuted nearly 60 cases related to Russian disinformation, sanctions violations, and espionage since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, indicating a high level of aggression from Putin (13m55s).
• There are Russian intelligence assets currently working in the United States, posing a danger by repressing critics of the Putin regime, conducting foreign malign influence, interfering in elections and politics, and carrying out cyber attacks (14m19s).
• The Russian intelligence services have been on a "war footing" over the past couple of years, and the US is working closely with European counterparts to share information and best practices to counter the threat (14m56s).
• US intelligence officials provided information that helped Germany stop a Russian assassination attempt earlier this year, but there have been other plots that weren't stopped, such as the case of Maxim Kusmanov in Spain (15m15s).
• A similar plot could potentially happen in the US, as evidenced by the case of Russian defector Alexander Pov in Miami in 2020, where someone hired by Russian intelligence followed and photographed him (16m2s).
• The concern in the Pov case is that Russia tasked someone to locate and find him, with the potential next steps being to carry out an operation, but luckily it was stopped before it happened (16m24s).
• The investigation into the Pov case led to the identification of Hector Fuentes, a Mexican citizen who had studied in Russia and had a Russian family, and who agreed to carry out activities on behalf of Russian intelligence services in exchange for cooperation (16m47s).
• A security guard in Miami witnessed a man, Gennady Fuentes, tailgating another car to slip into a parking garage, which led to Fuentes' arrest and admission of working for Russian intelligence (17m16s).
• Fuentes was tracking Alexander Povarov, a double agent working for the US, who had previously given away the identities of a group of Russian spies in the US to US intelligence (17m52s).
• Povarov was the boss of the group of illegal agents from Moscow and had affected to Miami, prompting Putin to want him dead, although sources claim Povarov is still alive and in hiding (18m42s).
• The FBI has the resources to fight back against Russia in the US, but it can be difficult to stop a determined assassin, and Russia is capable of killing an enemy on US soil (19m12s).

The Difficulty of Stopping Russian Assassinations and the Case of Dan Rapaport

• The FBI and Department of Homeland Security cannot track every person arriving in the US from overseas, making it possible for Russia to carry out attacks without being detected (19m36s).
• If the Kremlin wanted an opponent killed in the US, they could make it look like a suicide, making it difficult to determine the true cause of death (19m51s).
• The death of Dan Rapaport, a vocal Putin critic, in Washington DC in 2022, is still considered undetermined by DC police, and the case is still open, with some speculating that Russia may have been involved (20m21s).

The Continued Threat of Russian Intelligence and Putin's Unchecked Actions

• The head of Counter Intelligence in Russia is still a significant concern, as the US took its eye off Russia after 9/11 when the world pivoted towards counterterrorism, but dismissing Russia as an intelligence threat would be unwise (21m2s).
• Russia is still active in a very dangerous way, with the same people in charge and the same capabilities and intent to do harm as they have in the past (21m20s).
• Putin has been allowed to get away with poisoning and killing his way around the world for over a decade, with only some sanctions put on his government, and his behavior has not changed (21m30s).
• An objective observer would have to say that Putin has gotten away with his actions, as he is still in charge and his behavior remains unchanged (21m52s).