Alexei-The Russian Assassin

This is a story about elements of the CIA and the Russian FSB working together to eliminate threats to each country’s security and common interests. A Russian oligarch is running a large drug and arms smuggling near the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan. Working with the Taliban, drugs are smuggled out of Afghanistan for distribution in Eastern Europe and Russia. The drugs are the major cause of the significant number of drug related deaths reported in the major cities of Russia.

The smugglers pay the Taliban for the drugs with arms purchased or stolen from old East European stockpiles. The weapons are then used against the Afgan army and the US Forces working in Afghanistan.

Information gleaned from the operation to shut down the smuggling operation in OSH lead to a covert meeting between the CIA operative and representatives of a Russian oligarch aboard a large yacht on the stormy Baltic coast. A trade is made, a small boy to be returned to his family for a list of names. Analysts back at Langley determined that all the names but one were Russian oligarchs that had gotten on the wrong side of the Russian government. One was in a Siberian prison for openly criticizing the Putin government. Another was living in exile in London. And the third was living in Moscow but with most of his riches taken away. They could find nothing on the name Alexei.

Alexei was with one of the last units to leave Afghanistan in’89 as the Russian army abandoned its efforts to control the country. He and his comrades were demobilised at a small army base outside Moscow. They were given their last months pay and thrown out into a Russia that was in recession. Some joined criminal gangs where their military experience could be useful. Others drank or drug themselves into oblivion. Alexei just disappeared. Years later when the FSB began looking for survivors of Aleksei’s unit, they learned that he had told no one where he was going or what he would be doing. More importantly, the FSB learned of Alexei’s successes as a sniper. His skills were such that he was awarded several medals.

Over the next two and a half decades, there were a significant number of assassinations in Russia and Eastern Europe. Political dissidents, criminal gang bosses, journalists and assorted politicians were targeted by long-range sniper fire. Ballistics analysis revealed that in most cases the killing rounds came from the same weapon. In all that time, there were no clues as to the identity of the shooter or even whether there was more than one shooter.

Alexei agreed to one final mission. He had plenty of cash in a Swiss bank account and several offshore banks. It was time to retire. In his mind, the risks if he were to continue, had become too great. He would take the final shot, disappear and be free of his employers. He’d already made arrangements for new ID and travel documents.