Russia says it prevented assassination attempt on head of Tsargrad TV channel

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said Monday that it prevented an assassination attempt on the head of the Tsargrad television channel, the country’s state news agency reported.

“The terrorist act was planned to be carried out by detonating an improvised explosive device (IED) attached under (Konstantin) Malofeev's car. A similar scheme for committing sabotage and a terrorist act was used by agents of the Ukrainian special services in preparation for the murder of Russian journalist Darya Dugina,” said the Federal Security Service (FSB), according to TASS.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the matter on her Telegram channel, saying that if Western countries remain silent over the assassination attempt, it “would point to their tacit involvement in supporting such crimes, as well as ideological backing for the extremist actions of the Kyiv gangsters."

In a separate statement, Russia’s delegation to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called on the UN body to “stand up for the safety of journalists without discrimination based on their nationality, country of origin and political views.”

“We remind you that the safety of journalists and the fight against impunity for their killers are essential to protecting the fundamental right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” it said on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials are yet to respond to the claims.