Kazakh opposition journalist, Aidos Sadikov, 56, was shot by an unknown assailant in Kyiv on Tuesday, June 18, RBC-Ukraine media outlet and the Ukrainian agency “Interfax” reported.
The assassination attempt occurred in the Shevchenkivsky district of Kyiv, near the journalist’s residence.
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Ukrainian National Police were the first to report the incident. According to their press service, a call was received on the 102 line (equivalent to the 911 emergency call service in the US) about gunshots heard on V. Yarmoly Street in the Shevchenkivsky district. Police officers were dispatched to the scene.
Preliminary investigation found that an unknown assailant approached a parked car with a man and a woman inside. The attacker fired at the man and then fled the scene. The woman was unharmed.
Ukrainian media later identified the victim as Sadikov. His wife, Nataliya Sadikova, confirmed the attack.
“Today in Kyiv, near his own house, an attempt was made on [the life of] Aidos Sadikov,” she wrote on Facebook.
Emergency services were still working at the scene Tuesday evening. The search for the shooter was ongoing. Sadikov was in the hospital in serious condition.
The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office has started a pre-trial investigation into the attempted murder it said in Telegram post.
What is known about Aidos Sadikov?
Sadikov was born in the village of Karabutak in the Aktobe region of Kazakhstan, near the Russian border.
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He faced criminal prosecution in his homeland. In 2010, Sadikov was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “hooliganism” and was released in 2012. He and his supporters said the charges were fabricated.
Sadikov was active in civic activities and organized protests.
He headed the Aktobe regional branch of the opposition Nationwide Social Democratic Party (OSDP) Azat. After leaving the party, he attempted to create the opposition civic movement Gastat.
The Sadikovs moved to Kyiv from the Kazakh city of Aktobe in 2014 after a criminal case was opened against Nataliya. In Ukraine, they acquired refugee status.
Last fall, Aidos and Nataliya hosted the BASE YouTube channel critical of the Kazakh government and oligarchs.
Sadikov supported the protests in Kazakhstan in January 2022, during which troops of the Collective Security Treaty Organization were deployed to suppress them.
In October 2023, Sadikov was put on the wanted list in Kazakhstan for allegedly “inciting enmity.”
Sadikov’s latest video, titled “The President of Kazakhstan has become a puppet of Russian influence agents,” was published on the day he was shot.
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