Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed on Monday it had prevented an assassination attempt on a Russian oligarch by a group linked to Ukraine’s secret services.
The FSB “prevented an attempt on the life of a public figure, the chairman of the board of directors of the Tsargrad group of companies, Konstantin Malofeev, organized by the Ukrainian special services,” said the federal service, quoted by the Russian agency BAG .
Russian authorities said that “the terrorist act was planned to be carried out by detonating a homemade explosive device under Malofeev’s car”.
According to the FSB, a similar plan was used in the attack that killed journalist Daria Dugina on August 20, 2022 in Moscow.
Russian authorities have blamed Ukrainian secret services for the death of Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultra-nationalist philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, who was close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The FSB said the organizer of the alleged attack on Malofeev is “the founder and one of the leaders of the so-called Russian volunteer corps”.
It concerns Denis Kapustin, known under the pseudonym Denis Nikitin, born in Moscow in 1984, who has been described as neo-Nazi by various Western media, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
The FSB said Kapustin lives in Ukraine and “acts under the control of the Security Service of Ukraine and takes part in combat operations against Russian forces on the Ukrainian side”.
The Russian Volunteer Corps claims to be a formation integrating the Ukrainian Armed Forces, something Kiev has not confirmed.
The group claimed last week an attack in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, that killed two, according to Moscow.
Russian investigators have opened criminal proceedings against Kapustin for the attack on Malofeev, who said on the Telegram social network that he was not injured.
TASS illustrated the news with a video in which a hooded person wearing a surgical mask approaches a car parked in the street and then bends down to apparently put something under the car. The individual then moves away from the location. The following images show a car stopped in a parking lot being inspected by a robot, which removes the alleged explosive object.
Russian authorities have not explained why Malofeev was the target of the alleged attack, nor his relations with Ukraine. But in 2014, Malofeev became the target of Western sanctions for allegedly funding pro-Russian separatists in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, allegations he has consistently denied.
According to the Roscongress Foundation’s “site,” 48-year-old Konstantin Malofeev held management positions in banks and investment funds.
In addition to being chairman of the Tsargrad Group, he is deputy head of the Russian People’s Council, an organization led by Patriarch Cyril, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which supports Russia’s war against Ukraine.
According to the Roscongress Foundation, Malofeev is also a member of the Patriarchal Committee on Family Affairs and Maternity Protection, and heads the Russian Historical Society “Double-Headed Eagle”.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, sparking an all-out war that plunged Europe into its worst security crisis since World War II (1030-1945).
Source: DN
