Ukraine's National Police said on June 21 that two Kazakh nationals are suspected of shooting a noted Kazakh opposition activist and journalist Aidos Sadyqov in Kyiv earlier this week.
According to a statement from the National Police, the suspected attackers are Altai Zhaqanbaev, born in 1988, and Meiram Qarataev, born in 1991. The two suspects were added to the international wanted list, with a Kyiv court issuing arrest warrants for them.
The statement added that investigators found Zhaqanbaev and Qarataev arrived in Ukraine on June 2 from Poland. They rented an apartment and bought a car in Kyiv, after which they surveyed Sadyqov's everyday routine.
"On June 18, one of the suspects approached [Sadyqov's] car and shot him, while his accomplice was near the building to act as a lookout. After that they fled the crime scene," the statement said, adding that the two suspects then left Ukrainian territory via the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.
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Kazakh Authorities Arrest Suspect In Connection With Journalist's Shooting In Kyiv
Investigations are underway to find out who ordered the attempt on Sadyqov's life.
Sadyqov, an outspoken critic of Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and his government, is currently in intensive care fighting for his life.
His wife Natalya Sadyqova, who is also a journalist, was in the vehicle during the attack but was unharmed.
Sadyqova said in a video statement on YouTube on June 21 that one of the suspects, Qarataev, is a police officer serving in Kazakhstan's northern Qostanai region.
The Kazakh Interior Ministry issued a statement right after Sadyqova's YouTube video was published, saying that "Qarataev was dismissed from the organs attached to the ministry in January 2019 and currently is not a police officer."
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Wife Of Kazakh Journalist Says Husband In 'Grave Condition' After Shooting
Earlier on June 19, Sadyqova told RFE/RL that, hours before the attack, she and her husband had issued a new video titled Toqaev Is Putin's Puppet on their YouTube channel.
The video criticizes Toqaev's "pro-Russian politics" and looks at the activities of Russian oligarchs and agents of influence in Kazakhstan, some of whom obtained Kazakh citizenship after Russia launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
She added that Toqaev stands to be a beneficiary of the shooting "because the Kazakh opposition has been fully cleansed." She did not present any evidence that connected the president in any way to the shooting.
Toqaev's spokesman Berik Uali said on June 21 that the Kazakh president "had ordered law enforcement entities to find the two suspects' whereabouts and undertake corresponding measures."
"Kazakhstan's side is ready to cooperate with Ukraine's law enforcement structures, including via Interpol," Uali said.
The Sadyqovs, along with their children, moved to Kyiv in 2014 after Kazakh authorities launched a case against Natalya, who worked as a journalist for the independent Respublika newspaper at the time. She was accused of slander.
Sadyqov used to lead a branch of the opposition Azat Social Democratic Party in his native Aqtobe region in Kazakhstan's northwest until 2010.
He later headed a group that was a major force for establishing a union to defend the rights of Kazakh workers at the Chinese-owned CNPC-Aktobemunaygaz oil company.