Russia’s security services (FSB) on Saturday claimed to have prevented the killings of Margarita Simonian, one of the main voices of the Kremlin’s media machine, and Ksenia Sobtchak, an influential critic of the Ukraine offensive.
In a statement quoted by state news agency Tass, the FSB said on Friday it arrested members of a neo-Nazi group called “Paragraph-88” in Moscow and in Russia’s Ryazan region, who had been recruited by Ukrainian services in exchange for payment to kill two targets.
According to the FSB, “Paragraph-88” offered 1.5 million rubles (15,120 euros) for each murder.
Spanish news agencies EFE and France’s AFP, which broke the news of the statement, said they could not confirm the allegations made by an independent source.
Margarita Simonian, editor-in-chief of the television network RT, is one of the most famous faces in the information war in Moscow, which parallels the offensive in Ukraine.
Ksenia Sobchak is the daughter of former St. Petersburg mayor Anatoli Sobchak, who mentored Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, Ksenia Sobchak, who has never hidden her opposition to the February 24, 2020 invasion of Ukraine, runs a YouTube channel that is very popular in Russia, often critical of the authorities.
The popular ‘influencer’ has been forced to leave Russian territory several times since the start of the conflict, but always returns in the end.
Attacks or assassinations are now a regular occurrence in Russia, as they usually target activists who support the attack in Ukraine.
Moscow blames Ukrainian authorities for denying or commenting on these incidents, and last year the FSB accused Ukraine of planning an attack on Russian journalist and television host Vladimir Solovyov.
Source: DN
