On April 25 Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, announced that it had arrested a group of allegedly Ukrainian-instigated “neo-Nazis” who were preparing to assassinate Russian TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.
Ukrainian officials have dismissed this as a typical propaganda stunt by the Kremlin.
According to the FSB, the plan was prepared by order of the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU. The detainees, the FSB claims, belong to the “neo-Nazi terrorist organization National Socialism/White Power,” which is listed as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia.
The head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, commented on the details of the alleged assassination attempt on Solovyov.
“The preparation of this terrorist act was the work of a group of Russian citizens, Moscow residents, six people in total. They were led by representatives of the SBU from the Ukrainian side. These terrorists are members of the neo-Nazi group National Socialists White Power, a so-called neo-Nazi group,” Bortnikov said.
RIA Novosti reported that “homemade explosives, eight Molotov cocktails, six Makarov pistols, a sawed-off hunting rifle, an RGD-5 grenade, more than a thousand rounds of various calibers of ammunition, drugs, forged Ukrainian passports with photographs of group members, nationalist literature and paraphernalia” were confiscated from the detainees.
Russian president Vladimir Putin himself referred to the suppression of “a terrorist group that planned the attack and murder of one of the most well-known Russian television journalists.” “Of course, now they will deny this, but the facts and evidence are irrefutable,” Putin added.
According to him, Western countries “turned to terror” after they “failed” in the fight against Russia in the information field, the purpose of which was “to split Russia, to destroy Russia from within.”
Propagandist Solovyov commented on the assassination attempt via his telegram channel.
“Can you imagine how well we are doing our job? We are on the sanctions list of Britain, Australia, and Japan; apparently, Zelensky put me on a hit list. Can you imagine how twisted their word ‘truth’ is?”
The SBU has denied any involvement. It noted that Solovyov is not a public figure but merely an ordinary propagandist – the Russian equivalent of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, “who will certainly be held accountable for his crimes in international courts after Ukraine’s victory.”
Interestingly, the stunt may have a boomerang propaganda effect. The Russian authorities have in effect clumsily admitted that they have home-grown Russian Nazis – Russian citizens and Moscow residents.
