Putin to Attend Funeral of Assassinated Russian Ambassador

Dec. 21, 2016

Flowers lay next to a portrait in memory of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov who was shot by a Turkish policeman in Ankara. Maxim Shemetov / AP

President Vladimir Putin is to attend the funeral of murdered Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov, the Kremlin announced Wednesday.

The diplomat’s body was flown from the Turkish capital Ankara to Moscow Tuesday night. His funeral is planned for Thursday.

Read more from The Moscow Times: Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Assassinated in Ankara

Вчера вечером в Москве встретили самолет с телом А.Г.Карлова #россия #турция #терроризм #посол #сирия Last night a chartered flight airlifting the body of Russia's Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, landed in Moscow. #russia #moscow #turkey #syria #terrorism

A video posted by МИД России / Russia's MFA (@mfarussia) on Dec 20, 2016 at 11:34pm PST

The president has rescheduled his annual press conference in order to take part in the ceremonies, Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced on Wednesday morning.

The press conference will now take place at noon on Friday, Dec. 23.

Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was assassinated in an Ankara art gallery on Monday evening. His killer, a 22-year-old former policeman, was shot by a Turkish policeman.

Putin called the attack “a provocation” designed to derail the peace process in Syria and the normalization of bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey.

“There can be only one response: intensifying our fight against terror,” the Russian president said on Russian television. “And the bandits will feel it.”

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