The chief editor of the Russian version of Forbes magazine, Paul Khlebnikov, was allegedly shot from a Stechkin assault rifle on the evening of July 9, 2004, when he left the editorial office. The criminal made several shots towards the journalist from the car. Paul died in a hospital after experiencing a clinical death without regaining consciousness. Who is behind this murder is still unknown, but law enforcement agencies believe that they are more than ever a clue. The role of the customer in this matter is assigned to Boris Berezovsky or the Chechen field commander Nukhaev.
Origin and early biography
The Khlebnikov family left Russia in 1918 for political reasons. Great-grandfather Khlebnikov, Rear Admiral Arkady Nebolsin, was killed by sailors during the February Revolution. He was a smart man by nature and received a good education. He made a voyage around the world, participated in hydrographic work in the Gulf of Peter the Great, fought on the battlefields of the Russo-Japanese War.
Pavel Yuryevich Khlebnikov was born in New York in 1963. His grandfather, Sergei Vladimirovich, under the Russian Empire, served in the Life Guards of Her Imperial Majesty the Ulan Regiment, participated in the First World War and in the Civil Wars. Grandmother, Ekaterina Khlebnikova, was the great-granddaughter of Ivan Pushchin, the Decembrist and Lyceum friend of Alexander Pushkin. In New York, she led the Russian Children's Charity Society. Pavel Khlebnikov’s father, Yuri (George), was a translator in Nuremberg, and headed the UN service.
Paul Khlebnikov tried to combine his professional activities with the benefits for Russia, in the love for which he grew up. Pavel was raised by his parents in the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad. In the family, Russian was always considered the native language. Books of Pushkin, Gogol and Lermontov were read to the boy by his mother. At six, he did not know English like his brothers and sister. Paul Khlebnikov earned his first dollar in two years on great-grandmother's glasses. She always lost her points and promised 25 cents for the loss. Paul hid his glasses, and then “found”.
The boy devoted his free time to reading. He almost knew by heart the battle scenes from the novel "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy. Pavel Khlebnikov has been an idealist and romantic since childhood. He represented the homeland of his ancestors as Gogol and Dostoevsky, Nekrasov and Saltykov-Shchedrin saw it. By the age of seventeen, he had definitely decided that he should go to Russia. At first I wanted to work at BAM and even went to the embassy to get documents and permission.
The older brothers told Paul a lot about Moscow, Russian traditions, hospitality and the KGB, which carefully monitored every American in the USSR. The brothers joked that in the historical homeland they would be followed all the time by the black Volga. In 1983, Paul turned twenty years old. He graduated from the University of California and went on his first trip abroad to the USSR. What he saw surpassed all his expectations - in Moscow, Pavel was followed by as many as three cars.
Education and career of a journalist
Education Paul Khlebnikov received in the United States. He graduated from high school and college, and in 1984 received a bachelor's degree from the University of California. He specialized in political economy. The very next year, Pavel became a master, defending a dissertation at the London School of Economics on the personnel policy of the USSR authorities in 1918-1985. The choice of this topic impressed the teachers, but Pavel successfully defended himself.
In 1991, American journalist Paul Khlebnikov received his doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science on a dissertation on Russia's economic development in 1906-1917 and Stolypin's agrarian reform. The selected topic no longer surprised the faculty. Paul Khlebnikov did not want to become a scientist, his main goal was not even journalism, but politics and writing books.
Pavel began working at Forbes magazine in 1989. He analyzed the work of international industrial companies. The correspondent was fluent in five languages: English, Russian, German, French, and Italian, so that work was easy for him. In the nineties, the main focus of his research was the "new Russian business." Pretty soon, Khlebnikov got a senior editor's chair.
"The Godfather of the Kremlin ..."
The journalistic career of Paul Khlebnikov developed rapidly. In 1996, he published a sensational article in the Forbes magazine, “The Godfather of the Kremlin?” In this article, Pavel accused Boris Berezovsky of having connections with the mafia in Chechnya, money laundering, contract killings, and fraud. Boris Berezovsky sued Khlebnikov, demanding compensation and a complete refutation of the article. The court granted the oligarch’s claims only partially.
The court forced Forbes to refuse only one of the allegations in the material (that Berezovsky was the organizer of the murder of the TV presenter Listyev), since the publication simply did not have enough evidence for this thesis. The court did not award any compensation to Boris Berezovsky and did not force the journalist to publish a refutation. The process was completed only in 2003.
In 2000, the book was published by Paul Khlebnikov, based on a famous article. In the book, he spoke in detail about Boris Berezovsky and claimed that the oligarch controls the Russian government. The publicist meticulously exposed post-communist power based on carefully compiled facts. The book “The Godfather of the Kremlin Boris Berezovsky, or the History of the Looting of Russia” is dedicated to this. Pavel Khlebnikov cited many facts of participation in the looting of government officials and Yeltsin himself.
The book "Conversation with the Barbarian"
Khlebnikov’s second book, which was published in 2003, is based on a journalist’s fifteen-hour conversation with the Chechen field commander and criminal authority Khozh-Akhmed Nukhaev. He told the journalist about his activities, views on Islam and the bandit career in the nineties. The field commander had connections around the world. For example, in 1997, he personally met with M. Thatcher and Z. Brzezinski, discussing the prospects for Chechen independence. Here is one of the interesting quotes from the book “Conversation with the Barbarian” by Paul Khlebnikov:
All Islamic terrorism, which we see both in Russia and around the world, has matured from the culture of ordinary banditry. While working on the book, I began to carefully study Wahhabism, which plays an important role in the Chechen movement. At first, Wahhabis were ordinary nomads and robbers. The Wahhab, the leader of one of the Saudi tribes, simply turned out to be a more successful robber than others.
Opening Forbes in Russia
In 2004, when the Forbes magazine management thought about opening a branch in Russia, Paul became the only candidate for the position of chief editor. In the Moscow branch of his native Forbes, Khlebnikov did not become his own. He had equal relations with all employees, but he did not have close friends among journalists. Colleagues called him an "incorrigible romantic." Journalists considered him a black sheep.
Hundred richest people in Russia
The June issue of Forbes magazine listing 100 richest people in Russia was a matter of pride to Paul Khlebnikov. He prepared this list for several months. Moscow colleagues dissuaded Pavel from publishing the list, but the journalist sincerely could not understand why it was not pleasant in Russia to advertise his fortune. Indeed, in the United States to get into such a hundred is prestigious.
After publication, a scandal broke out in Moscow immediately. Some were outraged that they were not the first in this hundred. Others did not like the fact that their names were published in the press. The list was published for the first time. Wealthy Russians never sought publicity. Soon after the murder of Paul Khlebnikov (the list was published two months before the death of the journalist), this event became one of the main versions.
The journalist did not feel the danger and did not expect threats. He did not hire security even after the publication of the scandalous article, believing that they did not kill people for the press. By the way, Berezovsky (one of the main suspects) after the killing of Khlebnikov said that the publicist “could have been killed due to careless handling of the facts.” According to many colleagues, it was the publication of recordings of a conversation with Nukhaev that was one of P. Khlebnikov's most risky acts.
The personal life of a journalist
Personal life of Paul Khlebnikov was successful. He was married to Helen Train, the daughter of financial adviser and influential banker John Train. The marriage was officially concluded in 1991. Three children were born in the marriage. Khlebnikov was a Christian, his spiritual mentor was father Leonid (Leonid Kalinin).
The murder of an American journalist
A journalist and writer was killed in Moscow in 2004. After work, he left the editorial office of Forbes magazine and headed for the Botanichesky Sad metro station. Paul was being watched from the car. On the way to the subway, the car caught up with Khlebnikov, the performer slowed down, opened a window and shot the journalist almost point blank. He fired nine bullets.
Eight minutes later, the ambulance arrived. Paul Khlebnikov remained conscious. In the medical car, he lost consciousness, and breathing and heart activity stopped at the entrance to the hospital. Clinical death was diagnosed. The journalist died an hour after the assassination attempt in the hospital.
Investigation of the incident and court
The investigation quickly found both the customer and the contractor. According to the police, the performer was a Chechen Dukuzov, and the customer was Khozh-Akhmet Nukhaev. The case also involved the brother of Dukuzov, who was engaged in surveillance of the journalist.
In 2006, all defendants were found not guilty in a jury trial. Where is the performer now? This remains unknown. In 2011, Dukuzov was convicted in the UAE for robbery, in 2015 he was released and returned to Chechnya under a different name.
The investigation of the case has not yet been completed. According to Forbes magazine, it is now believed that the customer was Boris Berezovsky, who died in the UK in 2013. According to the new version, the Chechen commander was only an intermediary. Nothing is known about his fate at all now. Some sources indicate that he died a few months before the assassination attempt on an American journalist.
Involvement of Boris Berezovsky
According to the Russian press, in 2004 Boris Berezovsky had a reason to recall his dislike of an American journalist. Of course, he did not like the book “The Godfather of the Kremlin Boris Berezovsky, or the History of the Looting of Russia”. And then in the list of the richest people in Russia, he was only in 47th place. Perhaps he ordered the murder of a careless journalist. This version remains one of the main ones.
Boris Berezovsky was repeatedly interrogated in London on this subject. The British found out that the oligarch has nothing to do with the murder of Paul Khlebnikov, which he passed on to the Americans. Marc Franchetti, a columnist for The Sunday Times, commented on the murder and involvement of Berezovsky:
It seems strange to me that Berezovsky wanted to kill Khlebnikov a few years after the publication of the book. There must be some more relevant reason.
Other kill versions
There is a version that the murder could be connected with the journalist’s future book, for which he collected facts about embezzlement of budget funds in Chechnya. He also wrote about influential people from the environment of Boris Yeltsin. And after the publication of the list of the richest people, the police had a huge number of suspects. Many Russian oligarchs were unhappy with the appearance of their name in the article. As a result, twenty volumes were scribbled in the case, but everything turned out to be “waste paper”.
Professional activities could be the cause of the murder. In 2004, Paul Khlebnikov was preparing several more sensational materials for print. In February of that year, he had some very serious reason to fear for his life. Khlebnikov did not tell anyone about the topic of the material, but he took precautions. The journalist hired bodyguards for a short while.
In 2004, the publicist expired a contract with Forbes. He could automatically renew it and remain in office, but then he suddenly started talking about his successor as editor-in-chief. Colleagues recall that the journalist first talked about returning to America. He considered transporting his family to Russia unsafe, which he repeatedly mentioned in conversations with friends.
Almost the only authorized person of Paul Khlebnikov in Moscow was the priest Leonid Kalinin. For some time the journalist even lived with his confessor, but stopped talking about his professional activities. In the summer of 2004, Pavel did not discuss his future articles with Father Leonid, believing that this might be unsafe. Leonid Kalinin said that Paul was clearly preparing some kind of dangerous material.
After the death of Khlebnikov, several people said once that they knew what kind of material the journalist was preparing during the last months of his life. They say that this is the topic of organized crime in Togliatti, but this is also only speculation. Then (over the past eight years) several local journalists were killed at once. There were rumors that seven criminal gangs of Togliatti were hunting for journalists at once. It is known that when the Ministry of Internal Affairs made an attempt to clean up AvtoVAZ from bandits, they found traces of at least 65 contract killings.
Recognition and Posthumous Awards
In 2004, the biography of Paul Khlebnikov appeared in all media . Then the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded Khlebnikov the International Press Freedom Award. On the anniversary of the murder of a journalist in 2014, US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that Paul Khlebnikov not only wrote about business and politics in Russia, but was also a “voice of conscience in the fight against corruption.” The statement said the US government was deeply concerned that the mystery of the murder of an American journalist was not disclosed.