The Second Western District Military Court in Moscow on [date] sentenced 12 defendants in the case of the far-right organization National Socialism/White Power (NS/WP) to prison terms ranging from 6 to 25 years. Two of them — Mikhail Balashov and Yegor Savelyev — were found guilty of preparing an assassination attempt on RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, the Investigative Committee said.

According to the Investigative Committee, Balashov created an NS/WP cell called 'Chistaya Krov' (Pure Blood) in Moscow in 2022. He and Savelyev allegedly agreed to kill Simonyan for a reward of $50,000 but were arrested before they could carry out the attack. The court sentenced Balashov to 25 years in a strict-regime penal colony (the first 4 years in prison) and Savelyev to 15 years in a strict-regime colony (the first 4 years in prison).

The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 6 to 18 years. Sergei Korolenkov was sentenced to 18 years, Andrei Detkovsky to 14 years, and Nikita Novik to 14 years in a strict-regime colony. Daniil Gusev, Vyacheslav Yemelyanov, and Pavel Ryazantsev each received 8 years in a penal colony. Maxim Solomatov got 7 years. Maxim Zakharov and Aleksandra Filimonova each got 6 years. Artyom Ryzhenko was sentenced to 6 years in a juvenile correctional facility.

Some of the defendants (including minors) were accused of attacking migrants and LGBT people, filming the assaults and posting them online. According to the investigation, Filimonova, who was 14 at the time of the events, was used as 'bait' — she lured future victims to meetings.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported foiling the plot to kill Simonyan in July 2023. At the time, authorities also mentioned an alleged plot against journalist Ksenia Sobchak, but her name later disappeared from the case. Security officials claimed that neo-Nazis from the group 'Paragraph-88' were preparing the murders on orders from the Security Service of Ukraine for a reward of 1.5 million rubles per killing.

Most of those detained at the time were minors. According to Mediazona and The Insider, after their arrest, defendants were tortured in the police station — beaten and subjected to electric shocks to extract confessions. One witness said Balashov gave testimony because 'he was beaten so badly that there was no choice.'

In December last year, in a similar case — involving a plot to assassinate TV host Vladimir Solovyov — other NS/WP members were sentenced to terms including life imprisonment, The Insider reports.