Among the other crimes of which the 12 were accused were attacks on migrants and LGBTQ people, as well as committing robberies and inciting ethnic hatred. Russia said Friday it had jailed 12 members of a neo-Nazi cell, two members of which planned to assassinate state media mogul Margarita Simonyan, a leading backer of the Ukraine war and of President Vladimir Putin. The cell’s leader – 21-year-old Mikhail Balashov – received a 20-year prison sentence, while 11 other defendants received sentences of between six and 18 years, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. It was not immediately clear to what extent each of them were involved in the assassination plot, as the trial was held behind closed doors and prosecutors did not reveal detailed information on the case. According to prosecutors, in 2022, Balashov “founded and led a cell of the international ‘National Socialism/White Power’ movement operating in Moscow, which he named ‘Pure Blood'”. Among the other crimes of which the 12 were accused were attacks on migrants and LGBTQ people, as well as committing robberies and inciting ethnic hatred. Simonyan is one of Russia’s most powerful state media executives, heading the government-owned media conglomerate that runs the RT broadcaster, Sputnik radio service and RIA news agency. Russian prosecutors did not give an exact motive for the plot, saying only that two of the defendants were “acting on the orders of unidentified individuals” and had been offered a reward of $50,000.
via ndtv: Russia Jails 12 ‘Neo-Nazi’ Group Members For Planning To Kill Media Mogul
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