MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI) – Criminal proceedings against Ilya Pyanzin, who is suspected of plotting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, have been transferred to the Moscow City Court, RAPSI learnt in the press service of the court.

In February 2012, the Russian and Ukrainian security services reported that the suspects in the case, who were earlier placed on the international wanted list, had been arrested in the city of Odessa. Investigators allege that Chechen-born Adam Osmayev and Ruslan Madayev, as well as Kazakh-born Pyanzin, organized a safe house in an apartment in Odessa.

The group was exposed and neutralized in January and February 2012 after a bomb made from saltpeter, aluminum powder and other substances accidentally detonated in the apartment, killing Madayev.

Pyanzin, who was detained first, told Ukrainian security officers that his accomplices were preparing a bomb to assassinate then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. They allegedly planned to detonate it close to Putin's motorcade as he drove through Moscow.

Pyanzin was handed to Russia in 2012. Osmayev's extradition has been suspended until the ECHR passes a judgment on the lawfulness of his extradition.

He stands charged with participation in a criminal gang, conspiracy to assassinate a political figure, illegal storage and transfer of explosives. He faces life in prison.