A dual Russian-Israeli citizen charged with the attempted murder of the Ekho Moskvy radio station deputy editor pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges against him but said he had no intent to kill Tatiana Felgenhauer.
Boris Grits, 48, was detained after stabbing the deputy editor in the neck at the Ekho Moskvy office in Moscow on Monday. He has been placed under arrest until Dec. 23 on charges of attempted murder, Mediazona reported Tuesday.
Felgenhauer's relatives were allowed visit her in the hospital on Tuesday where she penned a letter thanking supporters and pledging to “be with you soon.”
Translation: “All all all! Thank you for your support and love, guys. Everything will be fine with me. It’s pretty cool to breathe through a tube. Also, I had a full night’s sleep for the first time in 16 years on the radio. I will be with you soon — we’ll hug! Tanya F."
“[Grits] injured the journalist, but explained that he had no intent to kill," the Interfax news agency quoted an investigator telling a Moscow court.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday that Felgenhauer was attacked by a "madman.”
He categorically denied allegations the stabbing attack was influenced by the state-funded Rossia-24 television channel, which accused Felgenhauer and Ekho Moskvy of anti-Russian coverage.
“Trying to connect this to something, painting it in a certain color, is absolutely illogical and wrong,” Peskov was cited by the Interfax news agency as saying.
According to preliminary accounts, the attacker, who is suspected to suffer from a psychiatric condition, had personal motives.
But colleagues close to Felgenhauer have blamed state media, pointing to a general atmosphere of hostility toward journalists who are critical of the Kremlin. Ekho Moskvy is among a handful of remaining Kremlin-critical media outlets in the country.
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