Detention Of Accused Kazakh Putin Plotter Prolonged

Kazakh national Ilya Pyanzin, suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, appears in a Moscow courtroom on October 22.

A court in Moscow has prolonged until January the pretrial detention of a Kazakh citizen suspected of involvement in a plot to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ilya Pyanzin was detained in Ukraine in February after he was injured in the accidental explosion of a handmade bomb that killed his associate.

Pyanzin, who denies any wrongdoing, was extradited to Russia in August.

His detention led to the arrest of the alleged mastermind of the plot, Adam Osmayev, whose extradition from Ukraine to Russia washalted at the request of the European Court for Human Rights.

Reports about the alleged plot to kill Putin surfaced days before Russia's March 4 presidential election, prompting skeptics to say it was fabricated and timed to boost Putin's popularity before the vote.

Based on reporting by Interfax and RIA-Novosti