Putin's murder foiled, says paper

March 17

Security forces foiled a sniper's attempt to kill the President, Vladimir Putin, near the Kremlin

Tvoi Den quoted an unnamed source as saying a sniper was arrested shortly before Mr Putin walked through the gates of the Kremlin on election night, March 2, to appear at a concert held next to the Red Square

The FSB Russian security service also declined to comment on Tvoi Den's report, which printed a photo of the alleged sniper, a young man from the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan, who was arrested in in a residential building next to Red Square

The concert was celebrating the election victory of Mr Putin's protege, Dmitry Medvedev, and although the two men walked through the gates together, the newspaper said Mr Putin was the plot's only target

had prevented a number of acts of terrorism and sabotage, which had been due to coincide with the elections