Third suspect in attack on journalist Oleg Kashin arrested after years of hiding in Belarus

Thirty-four-year-old Vyacheslav Borisov has been caught and arrested in St. Petersburg, the news website Fontanka reported. Borisov is suspected of participating in a 2010 attack on the independent journalist Oleg Kashin that nearly left the journalist dead. However, he was arrested in connection with a separate case.

Like Kashin’s other two alleged attackers, Danila Veselov and Mikhail Kavtaskin, Borisov was arrested on suspicions of participating in the kidnapping of Alexander Gorbunov, the CEO of the company where the three suspects worked. Gorbunov was kidnapped in April of 2014 and allegedly tortured until he confessed on tape to ordering the attack on Kashin.

Borisov had been the subject of a three-year international search in the Gorbunov case and was reported to be hiding in Belarus. According to Fontanka, he was caught in December of 2018, but his arrest was not announced publicly, and Kashin’s attorney was not informed because the arrest was not made in his client’s case. Now, Borisov will be held under guard until June at the least, and his first hearing in the kidnapping case has already been set for May 15. Veselov and Kavtaskin were sentenced to prison time in July.

The severe beating of Kashin has been said to implicate Andrey Turchak, who was serving as the governor of Pskov Oblast at the time. Turchak now serves as a Federation Council member and on the General Council of the ruling United Russia party. He has denied any role in the assault.