On Monday, October 13, 2025, French police detained four men aged between 26 and 38 on suspicion of plotting to attack Vladimir Osechkin, a prominent exiled Russian opposition figure and human rights activist now living in Biarritz, France. The arrests, confirmed by France’s national anti-terror prosecution office, mark the latest escalation in a wave of threats and violence against Russian dissidents and critics of the Kremlin across Europe.
Osechkin, who founded Gulagu.net—a group dedicated to exposing abuses in Russia’s notoriously harsh prison system—was the apparent target of the foiled plot. According to Reuters, the French anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office formally opened a probe into the four men, who were suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization and planning “crimes against persons.” The suspects have been placed under formal investigation and remain in custody as of October 17, 2025.
While French officials have not disclosed the nationalities of the men or detailed their possible motives, Osechkin himself has been outspoken about who he believes is behind the attempt on his life. "I saw how everyone was filming, how they prepared the sites from which to shoot," Osechkin told The Associated Press in an interview, describing video evidence provided to him by French police, including footage of his own home. He added, "This was an expensive special operation, sanctioned and financed from Moscow." Osechkin suspects that some of those detained are from Dagestan, a majority Muslim republic in southern Russia, though French authorities have not confirmed this detail.
The investigation is being led by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), France’s counter-espionage and counterterror intelligence service. The agency has been at the forefront of efforts to counter what Western officials describe as a broad campaign of Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare targeting European allies of Ukraine. According to the Associated Press, this campaign has included arson attacks, cyberattacks, and espionage, as well as targeted assassination attempts against high-profile figures such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and executives at German arms manufacturers supplying Ukraine.
Osechkin’s activism has long made him a target. He sought political asylum in France after fleeing Russia, where authorities placed him on the wanted list in November 2021 following Gulagu.net’s publication of a massive leak of documents, photos, and videos. The materials exposed systematic torture and rape within Russian prisons, often perpetrated by inmates acting under the direction of prison officials. Osechkin’s group has also been among the first to reveal that Russia’s military has been recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine—a practice that has drawn international scrutiny.
"Once again, a huge thank you to the French police special unit that is responsible for my physical protection and security. A huge thank you to the French counterintelligence and counterespionage services," Osechkin wrote on his Telegram account, expressing gratitude for the support and vigilance that may have saved his life. He emphasized to the AP that he believes he remains alive only because of the protection provided by French authorities, noting that he and his family are frequently moved to safe houses when new threats emerge.
The plot against Osechkin is not an isolated incident. The Associated Press reports that other Russian defectors and critics of President Vladimir Putin’s government have been targeted or killed in recent years. In 2024, Spanish police discovered the bullet-riddled body of Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who had defected to Ukraine the previous year. The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, subsequently labeled Kuzminov a “traitor and criminal” and a “moral corpse.”
Osechkin told the AP that he has faced several death threats since 2022, with the most recent occurring in February 2025. He described how the suspects in the latest plot “circled the area” around his home, filming in detail the locations where he regularly conducted livestreams and searching for possible escape routes. French authorities, he said, questioned him extensively about his activism and the ways in which it could provoke anger from the Kremlin and its intelligence services.
During the interview, Osechkin reflected on the broader implications of the plot, suggesting that the aim was not only to silence him but to send a message to other critics of the Russian regime. "This isn’t just about the killing of me as an individual," he said. Rather, he believes the intent is "to frighten other human rights activists into reducing their activity or stopping it altogether." He further warned that "those who were arrested are just a part of the overall picture, they are part of a big team," hinting at a larger network of operatives working to suppress dissent abroad.
Gulagu.net’s work has extended beyond exposing prison abuses. The organization helped bring Russian paratrooper Pavel Filatiev—a fugitive who served in the Ukraine war before being injured—to France in 2022. Filatiev later published accounts online accusing Russian military leaders of incompetence and corruption. These revelations, along with other high-profile defections, have put Osechkin and his associates in the Kremlin’s crosshairs.
The French probe into the alleged plot against Osechkin comes amid heightened concern across Europe about Russian intelligence activities and the safety of exiled dissidents. Four European intelligence officials told the AP earlier this year that Moscow is running what they described as an assassination program targeting perceived enemies of the state, both within Russia and abroad. The Kremlin, for its part, has repeatedly denied orchestrating sabotage or targeted killings in the West.
For now, French authorities are keeping the four suspects in detention on preliminary terror-related charges, allowing investigators to continue their work while the case unfolds. Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or guarantee a trial, but it does indicate that judicial authorities believe there is enough evidence to pursue the matter further.
As the investigation continues, Osechkin remains vigilant. His story is a stark reminder of the risks faced by those who speak out against powerful regimes, even from afar. The events in Biarritz have sent ripples through the community of Russian exiles and human rights defenders, many of whom now wonder if they, too, might be targets. The chilling effect of such plots is precisely what Osechkin warns against—and what makes the outcome of this case so consequential for activists across Europe.
