'BOMB PLOT' FOILED
Putin’s spies ‘thwart major assassination plot’ as CCTV ‘shows terrorist planting bomb’ near car
RUSSIAN spies have claimed to "thwart a major assassination plot" on one of Vladimir Putin's beloved cronies and billionaire Konstantin Malofeev.
The claims come as CCTV footage allegedly showed a "terrorist planting a bomb" under the Pro-Kremlin oligarch's car, which was later removed by the FSB.
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Malofeev, 48, runs a religious-oriented media network, Tsargrad TV, which publicly espouses the restoration of the tsarist Russian empire.
Ukraine has made no comment regarding the incident, however, it has accused him of funding "illegal armed groups" in the past.
The "attempt" on Malofeev's life was believed to be in similar style to a car bomb attack that killed Darya Dugina in August, 2022.
The 29-year-old woman was the daughter of philosopher Alexander Dugin - also known as "Putin’s Rasputin".
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Russia's Zvezda TV channel shared the video obtained by the FSB that appeared to show a man approaching a parked car and momentarily reaching under it.
Separate footage then later emerged that purported to show a bomb being removed by a robot from the vehicle in an underground car park.
According to FSB, the remote-controlled homemade bomb was attached to a vehicle owned by Malofeev.
However, his life was spared when the intelligence agency intervened to stop the plot.
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In a public statement, the FSB said: "The act of terrorism was planned to be carried out by detonating a home-made explosive device attached under Malofeev’s car."
Following the incident, Malofeev posted on his Telegram channel and said he was fine and that nobody had been hurt in the process.
He said: "I have no personal hatred even for those people who want me dead.
"But as many of our saints have said, one must forgive one's personal enemies and crush the enemies of the Fatherland.
"So we will fight against you until our victory and nothing will stop us."
In a statement, the FSB also accused the Ukrainian security services of being behind the assassination attempt.
They claim it had been orchestrated by Ukraine-based Russian far-right activist Denis Kapustin.
Kapustin is the alleged founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps, which claimed to have breached Russia's borders in the southern Bryansk region last week.
The FSB said a criminal case had been launched against Kapustin for alleged terrorist offences and illicit trafficking in explosives.
Separately on the front line, Putin’s favourite propagandist Vladimir Solovyov also came under heavy fire as he was with a film crew near Vuhledar.
The TV presenter was filming with the 155th Marine Brigade in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
Solovyov said: "At the settlement where our meeting took place, intensive artillery fire began.
"I think the military counterintelligence will figure out how the enemy learned about our movements.
"As it turned out today, information was leaked that I was supposed to be in this unit and they began to hunt for us.
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"During our conversation with the Marines, shelling began.
"It was directed from a quadcopter and there were many arrivals."
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