On 8 September at 18:08 a car blast rocked the area of Bessarabska Ploshcha in the center of Kyiv. Preliminarily, an unidentified explosive device was planted in the Black Toyota Camry with a Georgian registration plate. The spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs Artem Shevchenko has reported that Timur Makhauri, a national of Georgia, died in the accident. Two more passengers were in the car, a woman was brought in hospital, a child survived, according to Shevchenko.
The police have opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (felonious homicide committed in a socially dangerous way).
Foe of the Chechen leader?
Makhauri was born and raised in Chechnya, later he became a citizen of Georgia. His comrade-in-arms Timerkhan Munaev told journalists that Timur Makhauri was a member the Chechen Jokhar Dudaev volunteer battalion, one of two unofficial Chechen groups involved in fighting in the war-torn region of the Donbas on the side of Ukraine. According to Munaev, earlier Makhauri participated in the Chechen war and pro-Russian Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov considered him a personal enemy.
Kadyrov is believed to be behind murders of high-profile Chechens abroad who were rivals and critics of the Chechen leader. The latest assassination attempt of Chechen opposition leaders occurred in Kyiv on 1 June 2017, when Artur Kurmakaev, who worked earlier for Kadyrov, gunned down Adam Osmayev, commander of the Dzhokhar Dudayev battalion who was earlier charged with plotting to kill Putin. Osmayev’s wife Amina Okuyeva returned fire and wounded the attacker. Both attacker and his victim survived.
Contradictory past of Timur Makhauri
On 16 January 2017, Timur Makhauri was arrested in Kyiv on charges of illegal possession of weapons. He carried an ID card identifying him as a scout of another Chechen group, the Sheikh Mansur volunteer battalion.
Source: Euromaidan Press