Suspect of attempted murder of ex-SBU officer detained in Bishkek

On April 18, the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow took into custody Vladimir Golovchenko, accused of involvement in blowing up the car of former Security Service of Ukraine officer Vasily Prozorov in Moscow.

According to sources from the Russian state agency TASS and the independent publication The Insider, Golovchenko was detained on the territory of Kyrgyzstan and taken to Russia.

TASS source in law enforcement agencies assertsthat Golovchenko has citizenship of Kyrgyzstan, where his relatives live, and in this country he “tried to hide from the investigation.” It was possible to detain him, according to the agency’s interlocutor, “thanks to the interaction of Kyrgyz and Russian security forces,” details are not provided. TASS also writes that the arrested person has a residence permit in Ukraine.

The Insider citing a source in the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan reports details about the arrest of Golovchenko. It is alleged that on April 13 – the day after the explosion of Prozorov’s car in Moscow – Golovchenko in Bishkek was “grabbed on the street, loaded into a car and taken to the airport.” According to the source, the case materials are classified. The source also stated that the investigation is being carried out by the FSB, and not by the Kyrgyz security authorities, and the agencies “agreed on extradition to Russia through internal, partner channels.” He did not say which country’s security forces – Kyrgyzstan or Russia – directly detained Golovchenko.

Golovchenko is the second person detained in this case. The first one is not named.

On April 12, an unidentified device exploded under Prozorov’s car in the north of Moscow. This happened when Prozorov turned the key in the ignition. He suffered leg injuries and was hospitalized.

investigative committee excited criminal case under article of attempted murder. The FSB claims that the assassination attempt was prepared by the Security Service of Ukraine, where Prozorov previously worked.

The former officer worked in the SBU as an expert consultant since 1999, and since May 2014 – in the central apparatus, at the headquarters of the anti-terrorist center of the special service. In March 2019, he spoke at a press conference in Moscow, during which he stated that from April 2014 until his resignation in 2018, he collaborated with Russian intelligence services, as he himself claimed, “voluntarily for ideological reasons.” In the SBU then statedthat Prozorov was fired from the SBU “for official inconsistency – systematic use of alcohol in the workplace, discrediting the rank of an officer.”

In 2023, Russian intelligence services reportedthat they prevented an assassination attempt on Prozorov, who at that time lived in Russian-controlled Berdyansk.