Incident Summary:
4/17/2003: Sergei Yushenkov was a liberal Russian politician known for his democratic views in favor of free market economic reforms, and higher human rights standards in Russia. His assassination occurred following the registration of his political party, Liberal Russia, in the December 2003 parliamentary elections. Yushenkov was shot several times in the chest or in the back by assassin, Alexander Kulachinsky, while he was getting out of the car near his apartment building in Moscow. The MP's murder was organized by four members of the wing of the Liberal Russia party that split from the portion headed by Yushenkov, due to differences in political views. The men planned to remove Sergei Yushenkov from the head party post and get control of the party finances.
Overview
GTD ID:
200304170004
When:
2003-04-17
Country:
Russia
Region:
Eastern Europe
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Moscow
City:
Moscow
Location Details:
Sergei Yushenkov was shot outside the doorsteps of his apartment building on Svoboda Streetin Moscow.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Liberal lawmaker |
Specific Description |
Sergei Yushenkov |
Nationality of Target |
Russia |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Weapon Details |
The perpetrator used a gun with a silencer. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Mikhail Kodanev was the leader of the wing of the Liberal Russia party that split from the portion headed by Yushenkov. He was the organizer of the murder conspiracy. Kodanev, along with assassin, Alexander Kulachinsky, were convicted and given twenty years in prison. Igor Kisilyov and Alexander Vinnik, Kodanev’s aides, were convicted and given eleven years respectively. ladislav Palkov and Anton Drozd, were acquitted and released, as the court determined they were unaware of the conspiracy. The four men convicted in the murder case were members of the wing of Liberal Russia that had split from the party headed by Yushenkov due to differences between party members. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
6 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Radyuhin, Vladimir. “Russian Liberal MP Shot Dead,” The Hindu, April 19, 2003 |
Zaks, Dmitry. “Hit Man Kills Russian Liberal,” The New Zealand Herald, April 19, 2003 |
“Supreme Court Leaves Verdict to MP’s Assassins in Force,” ITAR-TASS News Agen June 23, 2004 |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties