The FSB of Russia announced the prevention of an assassination attempt on the editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya and RT media group Margarita Simonyan and blogger Ksenia Sobchak, which was allegedly prepared by the Ukrainian special services.

“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, together with the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, prevented the Ukrainian special services from preparing the murder of Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the RT television channel and the International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya. According to reports, the murder of Ksenia Sobchak was also being prepared, ”the FSB Public Relations Center said in a statement.

The day before, Russian security forces detained members of the Paragraph-88 neo-Nazi group, who were conducting reconnaissance of the locations where Simonyan and Sobchak live and work. Some of the suspects were caught in Moscow, the rest – in the Ryazan region.

The detainees have already confirmed that they were preparing assassination attempts. According to their testimony, they did this on the instructions of the SBU for a reward of 1.5 million rubles (for each victim). For “intelligence” they have already received 20 thousand rubles.

The criminals seized a Kalashnikov assault rifle and 90 rounds of ammunition, knives, brass knuckles, rubber clubs, handcuffs, as well as chevrons and flags with Nazi symbols and Nazi literature.

Among the six participants in the conspiracy are minors.

The Basmanny Court on July 15 arrested the participants in the impending assassination attempts. To date, they are charged with committing a crime under part 2 of Art. 213 of the Criminal Code (“hooliganism”). The court decision does not even mention “preparation for the assassination attempt”.

“The terrorist essence of Zelensky”

As the Russian Foreign Ministry stated, the reason for the attack on Simonyan and Sobchak was their professional activities.

“We are talking about another attempt at a terrorist attack on Russian civilians, organized by the Kyiv regime, which is carefully patronized by Western curators,” says the commentary of the official representative of the diplomatic department, Maria Zakharova.

According to her, now there is no doubt that the journalists were wanted to be eliminated in connection with their professional activities.

“Everything that is happening once again shows the terrorist nature of the regime of Vladimir Zelensky,” the diplomat concludes.

In her opinion, Moscow is also unlikely to expect any significant reaction to what happened from international organizations.

What Simonyan and Sobchak themselves say

Simonyan has already commented on the assassination attempt on her.

“The FSB, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee, detained a group that, by order of Ukraine, was preparing my murder. Followed me, knew all my addresses. We work, brothers! she wrote on Telegram.“I don’t care, no one will stop me”: Zaluzhny promised to seize Crimea

Later, the media manager expressed regret that many of the detainees were very young. “I am very sorry that an 18-year-old guy … seemed confused to me … that he read, that he looked, who talked to him, that he decided that caring for his people is compatible with taking money from Ukraine , Ukrainian intelligence has the opinion of its own country to destroy the viziers, ”she said.

Simonyan expressed the hope that all participants in the attacks would later realize what they had done, and from prison, perhaps, they would go to the special operation zone, where “in the trenches, life itself, fate itself will straighten their brains.”

This is the second assassination attempt on Simonyan over the past year. The first one happened in April.

” The first one was probably a big shock, because the first time. Now, this year, I’ve gotten used to living like a hare in a field, you know, ”said the head of Rossiya Segodnya, adding that dying “from the bullet of some fool” is perhaps better than “rotting from some terrible incurable disease “.

Sobchak did not immediately comment on the news about the prevention of the attack, but after a while she expressed her gratitude to law enforcement agencies for their work.

“Well, seriously, about all this preparation for the assassination. If this is all true, then thanks to all the involved services for their work,” she says in her Telegram post.

The journalist also added that otherwise she would “consider it meanness” to put her “in the same sentence as Simonyan.” “Any terror is evil, without any “buts,” she concluded.