Agent shot dead as Putin hints he may stay in power
A Russian intelligence officer was killed yesterday in a shooting which also left five people injured near the headquarters of the FSB security agency in Moscow.
The shooting came just hours after Vladimir Putin, the Russian president and a former FSB chairman, hinted at extending his rule during his annual press conference.
He avoided a direct question on whether he intends to stay in power beyond 2024 but indicated that he was open to discussing amendments to the constitution that could allow him to rule indefinitely.
A few hours later, a gunman opened fire near the headquarters of the FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet KGB, in the Lubyanka area of central Moscow.
There were no immediate reports of the shooter’s identity or motives.
Authorities locked down the area, a popular destination thanks to its bars and shopping, for three hours.
A video taken by a bystander showed a policeman shouting to passers-by ‘‘Go away’’, as shots ring out in the background. Another video showed police officers lying on the ground visibly unconscious at the FSB parking lot.
The FSB did not report the type of gun the attacker had but witnesses said it was an automatic weapon.
‘‘I heard the shots way back at Kuznetsky St – and when I went to a children’s store the shots continued,’’ a witness said on the Ren TV channel. ‘‘This is when I realised it wasn’t some fireworks. There were lots of police cars, ambulances driving there.’’
The attack happened while Putin was at the Kremlin Palace around a kilometre from the scene for the gala concert for the Day of the Russian Intelligence Community, which typically attracts top FSB officers.
Speaking at the televised event, he called terrorism a ‘‘threat to democracy, freedoms and human rights’’.
Putin, whose approval ratings are close to 70 per cent, has occupied the Kremlin for four terms since he was first elected in 2000, taking a break in 2008 because of constitutional limitations.
There is no legal way for the 67-year-old president to run again when his fourth term ends, and speculation has been rife about what could be done to keep him in the top spot.
One option would be to change the number of presidential terms written in the constitution or hand more powers to the government, parliament or a new body for Putin to lead.
During his marathon press conference, he was asked several times if he was going to stay in power or if he was supportive of an idea to devolve powers to the government or parliament.
Putin stopped short of saying if he intended to stay in charge beyond 2024, but said he was aware of ongoing discussions about reconsidering the roles of the president, government and parliament that could reshuffle the Russian power structure. ‘‘All of that could be done but only after a solid preparation and a thorough discussion in society,’’ he said.
Putin’s vague remarks have been widely read as the start of a Kremlin-led public debate on possible succession strategies.
‘‘Putin doesn’t want to give answers: he wants to leave this question hanging in the air,’’ Tatyana Stanovaya, non-resident scholar at the Moscow Carnegie Centre and head of the R Politik political analysis firm, told last night. Stanovaya added that Putin’s remarks mean he ‘‘has distanced himself from the future reform’’.
Instead, the president had left it up to parliament and the courts to come up with a new political framework for him.