American Journalist Paul Khlebnikov's Murder Suspect Detained in Kiev

A man who is accused of involvement in the murder of the Russian Forbes' version editor-in-chief has been detained in Kiev, the Russian Interior Ministry said Monday.

"Magomed Dukuzov, born in 1978, had been put on the international wanted list at the request of Russian law enforcement agencies. On November 17, he was detained in Kiev. He is accused of involvement in committing contract killings on the territory of Moscow, including the murder of the editor-in-chief of the Russian version of Forbes magazine Paul Klebnikov," Russian Interior Ministry's spokeswoman Irina Volk told journalists.

The detention of the suspect, a native of Russia's Chechnya region, was previously reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). According to the intelligence service, after fleeing from Russia, the detainee joined an organized crime group, which was engaged in extorting money from entrepreneurs in Ukraine. It was reported that Ukrainian law enforcers were deciding on preventive measures and subsequent extradition of the detainee.

The editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Paul Khlebnikov, was shot dead in Moscow on July 9, 2004. His assassination is one of the most high-profile ones in Russia's modern history. According to one of the versions of the investigation, Chechen warlord Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev could have been behind the murder.

Authorities said the killing was a response to Klebnikov's investigative work, which included books on Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen rebel leader Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev. In 2003, Khlebnikov published a book entitled "Conversation with a Barbarian: Interviews with a Chechen Field Commander on Banditry and Islam." The book is a transcript of Khlebnikov's lengthy interview with Nukhayev.