''Assassination of Russia'' (russian: Покушение на Россию) is a 2002 documentary film that describes the September 1999

Russian apartment bombings The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing more than 300, injuring more than 1,000, and spreading a wave of fear ac ...

as a terrorism act committed by Russian state security services. Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. " Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB." Free Press, New York, 2007. , pages 249-252 The film was created in 2001 by French producers Jean-Charles Deniau and Charles Gazelle. Yuri Felshtinsky and

Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised in ...

worked as consultants for the film; the film was made on the basis of their book '' Blowing Up Russia: Terror from Within''. The French producers initially worked for Russian TV company NTV to expand their program "Sugar of Ryazan" and later to TV-6. When TV-6 channel was closed by Russian authorities, the film was 70% completed. The remaining funds were provided by Boris Berezovsky. Leader of party ''Liberal Russia'',

Sergei Yushenkov Sergei Nikolayevich Yushenkov (russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Юшенко́в; 27 June 1950 – 17 April 2003) was a liberal Russian politician. He was assassinated on 17 April 2003, just hours after registering his political pa ...

flew to the premiere on March 5, 2002, in London, to announce that his party was going to distribute copies of the film around Russia to demonstrate "how the secret services deceived Russian citizens". This film was broadcast by the main TV channels of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, and Lithuania. Russian

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...

Deputy Yuli Rybakov brought a hundred copies to St. Petersburg, but they were confiscated at customs in violation of his

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, ...

. No TV station in Russia was able to show the film. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of copies were sold in Russia in 2002. Sergei Yushenkov presented the film at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...

in 2002, decrying lack of civilian control over the Russian armed forces including the secret services."Assassination of Russia"- Film Screening and Panel Discussion

, April 24, 2002 A staffer for the

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pro ...

said, ''"We just cannot go out and say that the president of Russia is a mass murderer. But it is important that we know it."''

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* * * French documentary films Russian apartment bombings 2002 films Documentary films about terrorism 2002 documentary films Chechen wars films Works about the Federal Security Service Alexander Litvinenko Censorship in Russia Deep politics 2000s French films {{France-documentary-film-stub

See also

References

External links