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Kazakh Authorities Arrest One Suspect in Connection with Attempted Murder of Activist Aidos Sadyqov in Kyiv
Kazakh authorities have arrested one of the two suspects wanted in connection with the attempted murder of Kazakh opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadyqov in Kyiv. Sadyqov, a vocal critic of Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and his government, was shot while in his car in the Ukrainian capital on June 18 and is currently in intensive care. His wife, Natalya Sadyqova, who was also in the vehicle during the attack, escaped unharmed.
The suspect, Altai Zhaqanbaev, born in 1988, turned himself in to Kazakh authorities on June 21 and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of committing the crime. The second suspect, Meiram Qarataev, born in 1991, is still at large, and investigations are ongoing to locate him.
According to Ukrainian police, Zhaqanbaev and Qarataev arrived in Ukraine on June 2 from Poland, where they rented an apartment and bought a car in Kyiv, surveilling Sadyqov’s daily routines before carrying out the attack.
Natalya Sadyqova has claimed that Qarataev previously worked as a police officer in Kazakhstan’s Qostanai region, although the Kazakh Interior Ministry stated that he was dismissed from the police force in 2019. The motive behind the assassination attempt is still unknown, and it is unclear who may have ordered the attack on Sadyqov.
The Sadyqovs, along with their children, relocated to Kyiv in 2014 after facing persecution in Kazakhstan. A case was launched against Natalya Sadyqova, who was a journalist for an independent newspaper at the time, on charges of slander.
In a video released just hours before the attack, the couple criticized President Toqaev’s policies and alleged connections to Russian oligarchs and agents of influence in Kazakhstan. While speculation arose that Toqaev may have benefitted from Sadyqov’s assassination, no evidence linking him to the shooting has been presented.
Toqaev’s spokesman stated that the president has ordered law enforcement to locate the suspects and is willing to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities, including through Interpol. Sadyqov has a history of opposition activism in Kazakhstan, leading a branch of the Azat Social Democratic Party and advocating for workers’ rights in the oil industry.
The investigation into the attempted murder of Aidos Sadyqov continues as authorities work to locate and apprehend the second suspect involved in the attack.
