The Russian Investigative Committee announced Tuesday the opening of an investigation into “terrorist financing” on behalf of Ukraine involving the United States and its allies, citing in particular the name of a Ukrainian company having used the son of US President Joe Biden.
“The investigation (…) examines the sources and movements of funds amounting to several million US dollars and the involvement of collaborators of the authorities and public and commercial organizations of Western countries,” added this organization in a press release, citing the name of the gas company Burisma which had seen Hunter Biden sit on its board of directors.
No element of the file revealed
The investigators affirm, without presenting the elements of the file, that Burisma served as an intermediary for funds used “in recent years to carry out terrorist acts in Russia and abroad, to eliminate personalities”. They did not put forward specific facts, but Ukraine has been the main suspect in targeted assassinations since the Kremlin’s assault on the country began more than two years ago.
Russia also believes that Ukraine is involved, alongside jihadists, in the March 22 attack against the Crocus City Hall concert hall, in the suburbs of Moscow, which left 144 dead. kyiv and the West have rejected this version of the facts which has so far not been corroborated, especially since the Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, the investigations were launched after a request from Russian deputies regarding the “financing of terrorist activities by senior officials of the United States and NATO countries.”
“Absurd accusations”, according to the American national security adviser
The US president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, denounced the “absurd” accusations during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday. “Russia knows that it was ISIS which committed the attack on Moscow, we know that it was ISIS which committed the attack on Moscow,” he declared while recalling that Washington had warned Moscow of the risk of an “imminent” terrorist attack. “Everything else is just noise,” he added.
Hunter Biden’s collaboration with Burisma is one of the favorite subjects of Republican adversaries of the White House to criticize the Biden family for questionable deals. The president’s son has always denied doing anything illegal or even immoral, as has his father. And the investigation has not been successful so far. And in February, a former FBI informant was arrested in connection with charges he fabricated false corruption charges against Joe and Hunter Biden.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, a former American-Israeli federal police informant, is suspected of having lied to his handling officer in 2020, by relaying false information about the Biden family, provided by Russian intelligence services. In particular, he wrongly accused the American president and his son of having each received five million dollars in bribes to allow Burisma to escape prosecution.