According to Russian media reports such as the Russian Business Consultation (RBC) website, the Russian Federal Investigative Commission on October 20 announced that the investigation into the assassination plot of today's Russian television (RT) editor Margarita Simonyan has been concluded, the case has been transferred to the prosecutor's office, and two suspects have been charged with related charges.
The report stated that the suspects included Mikhail Balashov, founder of the Moscow branch of the neo-Nazi terrorist organization "National Socialism/White Power", and at least 11 associates. Investigations showed that Balashov established a gang codenamed "Pure Blood" in 2022 to recruit members with ultra-nationalist and racist ideas. Balashov and Yegor Savliyev were hired by unknown persons and agreed to murder Simonyan for a reward of US$50,000. They were accused of collecting information such as the target's travel patterns and routes, and obtaining guns and ammunition from their employers to prepare for the assassination.
The Russian Federal Security Service arrested all the suspects before the operation was carried out, thwarting the assassination plot. According to the investigation department, in addition to being charged with illegal gun possession and premeditated murder, balashov and Saveliev were also charged with forming terrorist organizations, inciting hatred and committing violence.
Simone Yuan posted on the social platform X on the 20th that she "heartedly thanked all law enforcement personnel who prevented this from happening."
In July 2023, the Russian Federal Security Service announced that the Russian security department had prevented a hired murder case against Simonyan and Russian TV host and editor Kseniya Sobchak, claiming that the mastermind behind the scenes was the Ukrainian Security Service. The Russian Federal Security Service said that law enforcement officers arrested a group of members of the neo-Nazi organization "Paragraph 88" in Moscow and Ryazan Oblast who were preparing to commit crimes. For every assassination, the suspect can get 1.5 million rubles (about 18,000 US dollars).
Ukrainian government officials at the time strongly denied Russian accusations that Kiev attempted to assassinate Russian journalists, saying “we absolutely don’t need to assassinate them.”
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