Russia bizarrely counts The Sims 3 as evidence of a “staged” assassination…

Who would have thought that The Sims 3 would suddenly become such a significant threat more than a decade after its release? After all, what other explanation could there be for the discovery of a few copies of the legendary game by the Russian secret service as part of a Ukrainian neo-Nazi plot to assassinate a pro-Kremlin journalist?

Observers believe that the agents planting the evidence somehow mixed three mobile phone SIM cards with ‘The Sims 3’ video game.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, “This morning, the Federal Security Service [FSB] stopped the activities of a terrorist group that planned to attack and kill one famous Russian TV journalist.”

Russia’s Investigative Committee said that six people suspected of plotting to assassinate pro-Kremlin television presenter Vladimir Solovyov had been arrested in a joint raid with the FSB, the main successor to the KGB.

The FSB published pictures of the raid showing all kinds of (neo)Nazi books and memorabilia, including a photo of Adolf Hitler and an SS “Totenkopf” badge. The pictures also included drugs, fake Ukrainian passports and, bizarrely, three copies of the video game “The Sims 3”.

(The ominous The Sims 3 boxes. Source: FSB)

Online observers have commented on this strange detail and speculate that an agent was instructed to insert three mobile phone SIM cards, but the agent may have been a little confused.

“I honestly believe this is an FSB officer who was told to get 3 SIMs,” said Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat.

Francis Scarr, a journalist for the BBC’s Observer Service, joked, “Who knew that they were so into The Sims 3?”

Eliot Higgins, the founder of the open-source investigative agency Bellingcat, said, “I honestly believe an FSB officer was told to get 3 SIM cards.” A more recent video of the seized items has been posted on the FSB’s YouTube channel, where, how could it not be, they’ve already blurred The Sims 3 boxes…

On Monday, on Russian state television, Solovyov claimed that this was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s personal revenge because he once tried to audition for a show on the Rossiya 1 TV channel when he was still an actor-comedian, but “he wasn’t talented enough.”

The Russian propaganda used to justify the invasion of Ukraine massively over-emphasised the presence of neo-Nazis in the country, with Putin initially claiming that the main reason for his war of aggression was to “de-nazify” Ukraine.

The case of the “unclear signature”

Political scientist Sergej Sumlenny has uncovered another sign of astonishing amateurism by analysing the published photos. One of the photos shows an inscription – perhaps a book signing – but instead of an actual signature, the Russian phrase “signature unclear” (i.e. an illegible signature so that the person cannot be identified) is used.

“Yes, FSB got an order to sign it with ‘signature unclear’ – and did so!” wrote Sumlenny in his tweet.

Source: Business Insider, Kotaku

And in these pictures from the raid we have a "Ukrainian neo-Nazi starter pack" courtesy of the FSB pic.twitter.com/5FSvpze1lG

— Francis Scarr (@francska1) April 25, 2022

Classic saboteur checklist:
Explosives ✔️
Guns ✔️
Mein Kampf ✔️
Nazi Flag ✔️
The Sims Expansions ✔️✔️✔️ https://t.co/m1X7aAYRs9

— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) April 25, 2022

Russian FSB has fabricated a "plot" to kill Russian TV propagandist Solovyov. Allegedly by Ukrainian SBU and Nazis. One of the "evidences" is neonazi inscription on a book. Signed by "Signature unclear". Yes, FSB got an order to sign it with a "signature unclear" – and did so! pic.twitter.com/P1vnDOXOIB

— Sergej Sumlenny (@sumlenny) April 25, 2022