Posing as Reporter in Kiev While Hunting Putin Foes

KIEV, Ukraine — The man was tall and dapper. He wore a dark suit and spoke with a French accent. When he met politicians in Kiev, he introduced himself as Alex Werner, a reporter with the French newspaper Le Monde.

“He was elegant, calm and confident,” recalled Amina Okuyeva, who served with her husband as a volunteer soldier in the war against separatists in the eastern part of the country. Mr. Werner had interviewed her several times.

It was midway through one of those interviews, in a terrifying flash of gunpowder, that Mr. Werner’s true identity came to light: He was, in fact, a Chechen assassin, the Ukrainian authorities now say.

Under the guise of a journalist, the assassin, Artur Denisultanov-Kurmakayev, tried to murder Ms. Okuyeva and her husband, Adam Osmayev, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said. The plot went awry because Ms. Okuyeva was also armed.

The attack was t he t hird high- profile killing or attempted killing in Kiev that the Ukranian authorities have attributed to the Russian security services, but the first in which the accused killer impersonated a journalist.

In 2006, the Russian government legalized targeted killings abroad of people posing terrorist threats, resuming a Soviet- era practice. But the Kremlin has vehemently denied specific accusations, including those in Ukraine.

As “Mr. Werner,” Mr. Denisultanov-Kurmakayev had lived for more than a year in Kiev, mingling with politicians and anti-Russian activists before the shooting on June 1.

The cover was good but not flawless, Ms. Okuyeva said in an interview. She was accompanied by two bodyguards who were on high alert throughout the interview.

One indication that Mr. Denisultanov-Kurmakayev was not who he said he was: He always carried a notebook but never bothered to write in it, Ms. Okuyeva said.

In 2012, the Russian government accused Mr. Osmayev of plotting to kill Vladimir V. Putin, then the prime minister. Mr. Osmayev was arrested in Ukraine, but his extradition to Russia was blocked by the European Court of Human Rights. After the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, he was released, and he and his wife joined a unit of ethnic Chechens fighting in the war in the east. Mr. Osmayev has been its commander since 2015. Ms. Okuyeva served as a sniper.

The couple knew they were targets. “Putin is personally interested in getting rid of us,” Ms. Okuyeva said.

The putative Mr. Werner asked the couple to pick him up in their car and drive to the French embassy. He also said he had a gift from his bosses at Le Monde.

As they drove, Mr. Denisultanov-Kurmakayev asked the pair to stop the car for an interview and to sit in the back to receive the gift,

Two Ukrainian fighters are nearly killed in a setup.

which he carried in a festive red cardboard box.

Mr. Denisultanov-Kurmakayev said, “‘Now, here is your gift,’” Ms. Okuyeva said.He opened the box, pulled out a gun and opened fire on Mr. Osmayev.

A shot hit Mr. Osmayev on the right side of his chest. But he was not immediately incapacitated and struggled with the shooter. Ms. Okuyevawas carrying a pistol under her coat, as well as a tube of the blood- clotting agent Celox in her purse. She shot Mr. Denisultanov-Kurmakayev four times as he and her husband fought. Both Mr. Osmayev and Mr. Denisultanov- Kurmakayev were gravely wounded.

“I will always be thankful,” Mr. Osmayev said of his wife’s quick draw. “Because of her reaction, we are both alive today.”

The survival of the assassin could elevate the importance of the case, should investigators obtain his cooperation.