MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has denied media reports about the existence of a "private Putin fund" in Russia.
"Seriously speaking, there are no such funds in Russia, of course, and any allegations about Russia's possible involvement in this false flag are nothing more than insinuations, and they have nothing to do with reality," Peskov told journalists.
He was commenting on media reports claiming that the alleged ringleader of the assassination ‘plot’ against journalist Arkady Babchenko allegedly received an order for the ‘hit’ from Vyacheslav Pivovarnik, an alleged employee of a 'private fund' of Vladimir Putin.
- Kremlin describes Russian journalist Babchenko’s faked murder as 'red herring'
- Ukraine’s SBU trots out explanation for refusing to name ‘mastermind’ of Babchenko plot
- International Federation of Journalists slams Babchenko stunt as 'complete circus'
- Kremlin warns despite Babchenko stunt, Ukraine still dangerous for journalists
- Back from the 'dead': Arkady Babchenko revealed alive
Peskov slammed the SBU’s faked murder stunt involving journalist Arkady Babchenko as a "red herring" along with Kiev’s attempts to blame the alleged ‘plot’ on Russia.
"I don’t know how the language of Shakespeare will compete with the great and mighty Russian language here, but this whole episode, all the evidence, it’s nothing but a red herring. I don’t know how it will be translated but the Russian speaking people know what I mean," he said.
On May 29, Kiev police claimed that Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko fell victim to a fatal attack, in which he had been allegedly gunned down. However, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) stated on May 30 that it had thwarted an attempt on his life by pulling off a sting operation, in which the reporter’s murder was faked. SBU chief Vasily Gritsak convened a news briefing where he revealed that the reporter was unharmed, after which the then presumed ‘dead’ Babchenko strolled out in front of his fellow reporters. Gritsak promptly hurled accusations at Russian intelligence services for the alleged assassination ‘plot’ and said that the mastermind had been detained on Wednesday.
Later, the supposed mastermind, Boris German, head of a non-state arms enterprise, appeared in court. He denied all charges and described himself as a double agent who allegedly works for the intelligence services of both Ukraine and Russia. Moscow lambasted the accusations against Russia as just more incitement from Kiev.