Moscow says it thwarted Ukraine-led assassination attempt
The Federal Security Service (FSB) claims to have foiled an assassination attempt on Konstantin Malofeev, a famous oligarch, which it says was being prepared by a nationalist group led by the Security Service of Ukraine. “The Russian Federal Security Service foiled an attack on Konstantine Malofeev, the chief executive officer of the Tsargrad Group, organized by Ukrainian special services,” the FSB said in a statement.
The FSB claimed that this alleged assassination plan was prepared by Denis Kapustin, who was presented as the founder of a group of “saboteurs” who claimed on social networks to have invaded a Russian region bordering Ukraine last week. According to the FSB, Mr. Kapustin, a Russian far-right activist, “lives on Ukrainian territory and acts under the control of the SBU,” Ukraine’s security service. The FSB opened an investigation against him for “assault”, “participation in terrorist activities” and “dealing with explosives”. Agence France-Presse has not been able to independently verify these claims.
Konstantin Malofeev, the alleged target, is a billionaire who has been the target of European and American sanctions against Russia since 2014 for annexing Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. He is the founder of the Tsargrad Group, which notably includes a nationalist and conservative television channel. According to the FSB press release, the attack was to be carried out using an improvised explosive device placed in Mr Malofeev’s car.
Back in August, the FSB accused the SBU of killing Daria Douguina, the daughter of an alleged pro-Kremlin ideologue, who died in a car explosion near Moscow. The FSB also accused Mr Kapustin of organizing and taking part in Thursday’s Ukrainian “infiltration” in the Bryansk region (south-west) bordering Ukraine, which Moscow said left two dead and one wounded. The Ukrainian Presidency has denied this information, calling it a “deliberate provocation” which it says is aimed at justifying the military offensive that Moscow has been waging in Ukraine for more than a year.