Russian authorities claimed to have killed the bodyguard of wanted Caucasus Emirate leader Doku Umarov in a shootout on July 13 in Ingushetia’s Sunzha region. The bodyguard, Mikhail Musikhanov, was said to be part of Umarov’s inner circle. Dzhamaleil Mutaliyev, another close Umarov associate, was killed in Ingushetia in May. A suspect in the killing of four Dagestani police officers on July 14 was shot dead when he refused to surrender the next day. President Putin accused the US of effectively trapping NSA leaker Edward Snowden in Russia by pressuring other countries not to offer him asylum.
