Overview
- Ruslan Gabbasov, a Bashkir émigré living in Lithuania, confirmed Thursday that Lithuanian security services stopped a planned attempt on his life.
- The 55-year-old suspect, arrested February 10th in Thessaloniki on a Lithuanian warrant, faces extradition after a local court approved the request.
- Lithuanian police disrupted part of the suspected network on March 12th, 2025, which investigators say prevented planned killings in Vilnius.
- Case files cite tradecraft and funding that included a listening device hidden under a Lithuanian political adviser’s car, hacked accounts of the Russian activist, €5,000 for passports and travel, and promised payouts of €40,000 to hired attackers and €10,000 to an organizer.
- Documents and reporting describe a multinational group with citizens of Greece, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, which experts say reflects a broader rise in Kremlin-linked hybrid operations across Europe after mass diplomat expulsions.