Russian Warsaw 'shadow parliament' discussed 'assassination campaign'

A 'shadow parliament' made up of former Russian MPs has been planning an assassination campaign against members of Vladimir Putin's government from Poland's capital city. Dozens of exiled politicians who represented Russian citizens in the Duma, the country's parliament, met in Warsaw this week to discuss a seven-point plan to overthrow Putin's regime, the Times reported.

The so-called Victory Plan of the Congress of People's Deputies (CPD), led by anti-war former politician Ilya Ponomarev, includes asking NATO to support their campaign of political assassinations, as well as an expansion of the sanctions against Russia and more arms for Ukraine.

The group claimed that change can only be brought about by force, and that it is 'no longer an option but simply a duty' of the West to help 'revolutionary action' within Russia. A formal proposal will be presented at the 75th NATO summit next month, which will be held in Washington DC.

The proposal reads: 'The use of force against Putin’s murderers, their financiers and propagandists, is morally justified — [when] consistent with the internally recognised norms of warfare — and ­imperative for victory. The Kremlin has already unleashed a massive bloodshed that is killing hundreds of Russians on the front line every day, as well as numerous Ukrainians, both military and civilians.'

The CPD was formed in November 2022, claiming to have 102 members, many of whom are serving Duma representatives who participate anonymously.

While it wants to present itself as the legitimate face of Russia's opposition, in reality it is the political wing of the Freedom for Russia Legion, a military group made up of four battalions of soldiers fighting for Ukraine, as well as the National Republican Army (NRA), a group of partisans operating inside Russia.

The NRA claimed responsibility for killing Vladlen Tatarsky, a Russian pro-military blogger, who last year was killed by a bomb that was hidden in a gold bust of himself at one of his speaking events in St Petersburg. The explosion left another 30 people injured. They also claimed to have killed Darya Dugina, the ultra-nationalistic daughter of political philosopher Alexander Dugin, who died when her car exploded near Moscow in 2022.

While Russia's opposition is fractured, a key exiled ally of murdered dissident Alexei Navalny has vowed to 'never give up' fighting Vladimir Putin to ensure the late Russian opposition leader's sacrifice is 'not in vain' . Leonid Volkov, who was speaking after a horrific hammer and tear gas attack outside his Lithuania home in March, described his friend's death as an 'open wound in our hearts'.

Navalny died at the age of 47 in an Arctic prison camp in February.

He told the BBC: 'If there are 50 things we can do, we have to do all 50 of them, if you do 49, that’s not enough, because that’s the greatest threat to the world that we’ve seen in 80 years.'

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