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Russian courts have sentenced twelve individuals involved in the attempted assassination of RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, with the principal defendant, Mikhail Balashov, receiving a twenty-year prison sentence. The defendants, according to the Investigative Committee, confessed to plotting the murder in exchange for $50,000.
Coverage Comparison
TASS, the Russian state news agency, reported the story through multiple articles, each focusing on different aspects of the case. One report detailed the extremist background of the cell, another focused on the assassination plot and the monetary reward, and a third highlighted the group's violent assaults on foreigners and individuals with non-traditional sexual orientations. All reports originate from official Russian statements, primarily from the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office.
Key Claims
According to the Investigative Committee's press service, the defendants confessed to plotting the crime in exchange for $50,000. The statement said Balashov, acting on instructions from unidentified individuals, collaborated with Yegor Savelyev in planning the assassination. The accomplices gathered intelligence on Simonyan's whereabouts and movements, and after receiving firearms and ammunition from unknown sources, they intended to carry out the murder. The plotters were apprehended by FSB officers.
The Prosecutor General's Office identified Balashov as the founder and leader of a cell affiliated with the National Socialism/White Power movement, which is designated as a terrorist organization in Russia. The cell, dubbed "Pure Blood," was established in Moscow in August 2022, and Balashov systematically recruited participants over the following year. The prosecution stated that Balashov and Savelyev operated Telegram channels dedicated to spreading extremist propaganda and promoting National Socialist ideology, including calls to join the cell.
Between September 2022 and July 2023, the cell carried out six assaults targeting foreigners and individuals with non-traditional sexual orientations, according to the Investigative Committee. The group circulated videos of these assaults online to incite extremist activity. Investigations also confirmed the defendants' involvement in hooliganism and armed robberies, some targeting citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The twelve defendants were convicted under eight articles of the Criminal Code, with crimes ranging from organizing and participating in a terrorist organization, aiding terrorist activities, attempting murder, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, robbery—including against foreign nationals—hooliganism, inciting hatred and enmity, to humiliating human dignity.
The Second Western District Military Court handed down sentences ranging from six to twenty-five years in prison. Balashov, described as a mechanic at a car repair shop, received the heaviest sentence: twenty years, with four years of actual detention followed by the remainder served in a maximum-security penal colony. He was also fined 800,000 rubles and subjected to a two-year restriction of freedom. Savelyev, previously convicted of attempted murder, was sentenced to fifteen years and fined 800,000 rubles (roughly $10,400). The prosecution had sought sentences of up to 25 years during closing arguments.