UK SPIES CRACK RUSSIAN DEATH PLOT
Kremlin’s assassins targeted Montenegro PM in coup bid to stop country joining Nato
BRITISH spies helped uncover Russian backing for a plot to assassinate the leader of a European nation and plunge his country into bloodshed.
The would-be killers aimed to overthrow Montenegro’s government to sabotage its plan to join Nato, Whitehall sources claim.
The attack on the country’s parliament was meant to take place on election day last year and was directed by Russian intelligence officers with the support of Moscow, the sources said. It was foiled only hours before it was due to be carried out when an informant revealed the plan to murder the prime minister and trigger a bloody coup. Britain and US intelli- gence agencies were called in to help the authorities unravel the conspiracy and are thought to have gathered evidence of highlevel Russian complicity. The plot, scheduled for October 16, was one of the most blatant examples of aggressive interference in Western affairs, sources told the Sunday Telegraph.
Details came as Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, criticised Nato as a ‘ Cold War institution’ whose growth had created unprecedented tensions in Europe for 30 years.
He told the Munich Security Conference in Germany that Moscow wanted to establish a ‘post-West world order’ and ‘mutual respect’ as he repeatedly hit out at the 68-yearold transatlantic military alliance.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his American counterpart, Rex Tillerson, are understood to have discussed the issue of Montenegro last week at their first meeting.
The new prime minister of Montenegro, which expects to become Nato’s 29th member, revealed details of the chilling plot just days ago.
Dusko Markovic said: ‘ This scenario entailed shooting citizens, taking over the parliament and the possible assassination of the prime minister.’ But he told Time magazine it was thwarted when an informant hired by Russians handed himself in, adding: ‘ He let us know that two Russian citizens were backing him. It turned out they belong to the Russian military intelligence service.’
The attempted coup would have killed the then pro-West prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, and replaced him with a pro-Russian government.
Hatched as Moscow was accused of trying to sway the US elections, it followed years of warnings from the Kremlin that Montenegro should not join Nato.
However, Russia has ‘categorically’ denied the ‘ possibility of official involvement in any attempts to organise illegal actions’.
But UK and US spy agencies called in for high-tech assistance to crack encrypted calls and emails between plotters are thought to have found evidence of high-level backing.
Revealing how Western security agencies helped Montenegro, Mr Markovic said: ‘The security services of Nato countries confirmed and corroborated our information. They helped us put these pieces together, because these operations involved the interference of a third party.’
Encrypted phone calls, emails and testimony from plotters-turned-informants are part of a criminal investigation into 21 conspirators accused of terrorism. They are said to have ‘prepared acts against the constitutional order of Montenegro’.
Sources said the plot appeared to have been constructed so that it was deniable and could be blamed on rogue Russian agents. A source told the newspaper: ‘You are talking about a plot to disrupt or take over a government in some way. You can’t imagine that there wasn’t some kind of approval process.’
Interpol is now hunting Vladimir Popov and Eduard Shirokov, the Russian intelligence officers believed to be behind the plot. They are thought to have been flown back to Moscow by Nikolai Patrushev, former head of Russia’s intelligence service.
They spent months overseeing the recruitment and equipping of a small force of Serbians, run by nationalist leader Aleksandar Sindjelic, to attack the parliament building as the election results were announced.
Disguised as local police, they
‘Plan was to open fire on the crowd’
would have opened fire on the crowd so citizens would think real officers were shooting them, and would have killed the prime minister at the same time.
They had recruited 45-year- old Mirko Velimirovic to buy weapons and rent a safe house. But he exposed the plot when he had second thoughts and told officials he was hired to buy weapons and rent a hideout for the Serbian gang.
Special prosecutor Milivoje Kat- nic warned: ‘Had it been executed, such a scenario would have had an unforseeable consequence.’ Another alleged plotter, Nemanja Ristic, was recently pictured standing next to Mr Lavrov during a visit to Belgrade, Serbia’s capital.
The Foreign Office said: ‘The Montenegrin investigation pointed to the involvement of two Russian nationals. Montenegro must deliver a transparent trial of the suspects.’