Russian security authorities say they have arrested members of a ‘neo-Nazi terrorist’ group after foiling their plot to assassinate TV anchor on orders from Kiev.
The FSB said it arrested members of a “neo-Nazi terrorist” group which was plotting to assassinate the pro-Kremlin TV anchor on orders from Ukraine.
“The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation detained a group of members of the neo-Nazi terrorist organization National Socialism/White Power, which is banned in Russia,” the agency said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
The FSB says the group of six Russians was planning the “murder” of Russian TV and radio journalist Solovyov “on the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine”.
It added that the group “confessed to preparing the murder of Solovyov, after which they planned to flee abroad.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) said in a statement published yesterday on the Telegram messaging app that it “has no plans to assassinate V. Solovyov”.
Commenting on the alleged plot, Solovyov said in an interview with the RIA Novosity news agency, “What’s surprising about this? I am on view to everyone.”
“I am a Jew and an anti-Fascist so it’s obvious that I’m a target for [Ukrainian nationalist Stepan] Bandera-supporting, Nazi bastards,” he added.
Solovyov has hosted prime-time political chat shows on Russian television since the late 1990s and has been decorated by the Russian government.
He has been sanctioned by the European Union as a “propagandist” and has had villas seized by Italian financial police.
