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The security service at Russian propaganda channel RT summoned a K9 sniffer team and a bomb squad over a suspicious parcel that was meant for channel head Margarita Simonyan, according to a report by media outlet Baza. The package included two books on Russian Orthodox Christianity. Simonyan confirmed the information, saying that sooner or later, the officers responsible for the “leak” would be prosecuted for bribery.
According to Baza, the package in Simonyan's name arrived on February 7. It was picked up at the post office, and when it arrived at the editorial office, the security chief asked Simonyan if she was expecting the package. She replied that she was not expecting it, after which the police, dog handlers and policemen were called. The information was also passed on to Russia’s Investigative Committee and the FSB.
The parcel contained two books signed by author Eduard Melnikov: “Russia Between Christ and Satan” and “On Orthodoxy for Intellectuals”.
Simonyan later commented on the incident:
“I am under state protection since the disturbing incident that everyone knows about, and therefore the issues of parcels sent to me and my movements are handled by the good people in uniform, not me or even [RT’s] security service. That is why no one asked or was going to ask if I was expecting a package. I did not know about any of this at all, as the good people in uniform are not obliged to inform me.
The good people in uniform thought that the parcel was suspicious. And somewhere along the road other, bad men in uniform, as they usually do, leaked the operational brief for a bribe, which falls under Article 291 of the Criminal Code. And [their actions] will fall [under it] sooner or later. You'll see.”
In the spring of 2022, the FSB reported detaining six members of National Socialism/White Power, a neo-Nazi terrorist organization banned in Russia. The agency claimed that the detained Russians were preparing the murder of propagandist TV anchor and radio host Vladimir Solovyov at the behest of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
An FSB video depicting one of the detainees claiming that the murder of other Russian propagandists (Dmitriy Kiselev, Olga Skabeyeva, Yevgeny Popov, Tigran Keosayan, and Margarita Simonyan) was also being discussed made the rounds on social media.