Russia says that would-be assassins were arrested, and explosives and firearms were seized.
Russia s Federal Security Service FSB claimed on Monday that it had detained a group of neo-Nazis instructed by Kiev to kill Russian TV host and journalist Vladimir Solovyov.
The FSB said the hit was ordered by the Security Service of Ukraine SBU. Members of the criminal group confessed to killing Solovyov and fleeing abroad afterwards. During the searches, the FSB said it had discovered an explosive device, eight Molotov cocktails, six handguns, a sawed-off hunting rifle, and a grenade. More than 1,000 rounds of ammunition were seized along with fake Ukrainian passports, along with fake Ukrainian passports.
The statement came after President Vladimir Putin said that a terrorist group was planning to attack and kill a well-known Russian journalist. He said that they will deny it, but the facts and evidence are solid, he said, speaking at a meeting of the Prosecutor General's Office Board earlier in the day.
Solovyov, 58, hosts a popular political talk show on Russia 1 TV, the Full Contact radio show, and actively comments on social media. The veteran journalist has supported Russia's military operation in Ukraine because of his pro-government position.
In February of this year, the EU put the presenter together with 374 other Russians on a no-fly and asset-freeze list. In early March, YouTube blocked his two channels, claiming they were in violation of the platforms community guidelines.
In a statement on social media, the SBU denied that it had ever planned to kill Solovyov and dismissed the allegations as fantasies of Russian secret services. Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, after Ukraine failed to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was unprovoked and has denied that it was planning to retake the two republics by force.