{"id":5103,"date":"2025-10-20T14:29:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/?p=5103"},"modified":"2025-10-20T18:35:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:35:49","slug":"two-charged-in-assassination-plot-against-rt-chief-investigative-committee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/two-charged-in-assassination-plot-against-rt-chief-investigative-committee\/","title":{"rendered":"Two charged in assassination plot against RT chief \u2013 Investigative Committee"},"content":{"rendered":"
Neo-Nazi thugs were offered $50,000 to attempt to kill Margarita Simonyan, the agency has said<\/strong><\/p>\n Two members of a neo-Nazi group have been charged with planning to assassinate RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, the Russian Investigative Committee has said.<\/p>\n The investigation into the case has been completed and handed over to prosecutors, the agency said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n Simonyan posted on X that she was thankful to those who prevented the planned attack. “My deepest gratitude to our law enforcement officers for their work,”<\/em> she wrote.<\/p>\n The assassination plot against the RT editor-in-chief was prepared by members of a Moscow-based cell of the banned the National Socialism\/White Power group, according to the agency.<\/p>\n The cell, called ‘Pure Blood’, was set up in 2022 by Mikhail Balashov, who recruited at least 11 people with “national-socialist and racist views.”<\/em><\/p>\n “Additionally, on the order of unidentified individuals, Balashov and the cell’s other member, Egor Savelyev, agreed to kill journalist Margarita Simonyan for a cash reward of $50,000,”<\/em> the statement read.<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n They gathered data on the RT editor-in-chief’s whereabouts and obtained firearms, but were detained by officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) before being able to carry out the murder, it added.<\/p>\n Balashov and Savelyev have been charged with illegal possession of weapons and preparation for murder. Together with other members of the cell, they are also accused of creating a terrorist group, hooliganism, and inciting hatred, the agency said.<\/p>\n Earlier reports suggested the hit on Simonyan had been ordered by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), which in 2023 accused her of calling for “mass killings of Ukrainian children,”<\/em> but failed to provide any proof to back the claim.<\/p>\n The RT editor-in-chief said at the time that the false accusations were an attempt by Ukraine to make a possible hit on her “appear more palatable.”<\/em><\/p>\n