Russia: Seven suspects arrested in attempted assassination of prominent journalists

(Patria) - A district court in Moscow ordered the arrest of seven members of nationalist organizations
suspected of attempting to assassinate journalists Margarita Simonyan and Ksenia Sobchak, the court's press service announced, as reported by TASS.

"The court approved the request and imposed detention as a restrictive measure for the suspects who were previously detained for the attempted assassination of Sobchak and Simonyan," the court stated.

Simonyan is the editor-in-chief of the state media outlet Russia Today, and Sobchak is a long-time journalist, activist, and politician. Ksenia is the daughter of the former mayor of Saint Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation reported that "neo-Nazis from the group Paragraph 88" were detained in Moscow and the Ryazan region, who were "conducting intelligence activities at the work and residential addresses of Simonyan and Sobchak," reported RIA Novosti.

An automatic Kalashnikov rifle with bullets, rubber batons, knives, brass knuckles, and handcuffs were seized from the arrested individuals, it was stated.

FSB Accuses Ukraine

"The Federal Security Service, together with the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, prevented the murder of the editor-in-chief of the TV channel RT and the international news agency Russia Today, Margarita Simonyan, which was planned by the Ukrainian special services.

According to available data, the murder of Ksenia Sobchak was also planned," the statement, previously reported by Tass, said.

"During the investigative actions, they confirmed that they planned the assassination attempt on the orders of the Ukrainian security service for a reward of 1.5 million rubles for each murder," the statement said.