Ukraine Awaits Request to Extradite Putin Plot Suspects

RIA Novosti

16:34 29/02/2012 KIEV, February 29 (RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office will consider the extradition of the suspects in an alleged plot to assassinate Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin only after it receives an official request from Russia, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.

Russian state television said on Monday that Ukrainian security services had arrested the two suspects in the Ukrainian port of Odessa last month. Footage on Russia's state-run Channel One showed both men admitting to the conspiracy.

“As of today, the prosecutor general has not received any requests from the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office,” Yuriy Boichenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian prosecutor general, said.

Kommersant, a Russian daily, reported on Tuesday that the suspects would not be extradited to Russia until they serve prison time for crimes committed in Ukraine

According to sources in the Ukrainian State Security Service, the detainees are also suspected of organizing a bomb attack in Odessa on January 4, 2012.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier dismissed as "blasphemous" media reports that the alleged assassination attempt was a ploy to boost Putin's popularity ahead of Sunday's presidential polls.