Russia foils plot to bomb billionaire

Konstantin Malofeev, chairman of the board of directors of Tsargrad media group, gives an interview in Moscow, Russia, September 16, 2021. Photo: Reuters

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said today that they identified a man named Denis Kapustin as the suspect in the car bomb planted by Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeev, owner of the Tsargrad TV channel.

Russian security services believe Kapustin is the leader of the RDK, an opposition group operating in Ukraine. The FSB describes Kapustin as "acting under the control of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)".

Ukraine has not commented on the information.

Video released by the FSB shows a man planting a bomb in Malofeev’s car, but does not show the time. The car was then taken to a secure location where bomb experts defused the device, according to the FSB.

Billionaire Malofeev said no one was injured in the incident and insisted no plot could change his "fervently patriotic views".

The FSB compared the attempted assassination of Mr Malofeev to the August 2022 car bombing of Russian academic Alexander Dugin. His daughter, Darya Dugina, was killed while driving her father's car to leave an event outside Moscow. Russian officials accused Ukraine of being behind the attack, a charge Kiev denied.

Kapustin attracted media attention last week after claiming that the RDK had infiltrated across the border and carried out raids in Russia’s Bryansk region. Local officials said two civilians were killed in the attack. Kapustin claimed the raids were authorized by the Ukrainian government.

The Kremlin called the incursion a "terrorist attack". The FSB later said the situation in Bryansk was "under control".

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that "the story about the raid was a deliberate provocation" carried out by Moscow.

Bryansk Oblast, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, has been the target of numerous shelling and raids in recent months. Several oil depots and power plants in Bryansk Oblast were hit in late November, causing major fires and power outages in the area.

Location of Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Graphics:FT

According to VnExpress