Strictly speaking, it's not a new story, since the attempt took place in May, when Tvoi Den broke the story. Verka was due to perform at a Ukrainian song competition and suddenly found herself surrounded by armed guards. According to Zhizn, the star's manager, Igor Klinkov, only told her the reason after the concert. It turned out that one of the star's friends had huge gambling debts, even losing his apartment. Moskovsky Komsomolets put the total sum of debts at $125,000. The man's creditors found out that he knew Andrei Danilko, the quiet man behind the colorful drag star. For a reason that remains rather unclear, the creditors told the debtor that he could have his apartment back if he killed Danilko. "I could have expected many surprises in life, but never something like this," Danilko told Tvoi Den. He said he was grateful for the security operation and glad that he hadn't known about the murderer while he was singing. The scenario seems to have been that the murder was going to take place while Danilko was performing. What a YouTube video that would have been. But sadly, the tabloids don't give any more details.
On Aug. 3, Tvoi Den reported that Ukrainian investigators were about to arrest the suspect. An unnamed source from the singer's entourage said a criminal case had been opened and the police were about to charge a suspect. Amazingly, Danilko told the paper that he had now forgiven the "friend" who had planned his murder. "I don't hold a grudge against the guy who decided to kill me because of a debt at cards," he said.
Moskovsky Komsolets wrote on Aug. 4 that the suspect, whom it named as Oleg, had financial dealings with Danilko. Apparently, he helped organize concerts at corporate parties and used to pocket a few griven for his trouble. Strangely, the tabloid wrote that the man would be charged with attempting to commit a terrorist act, rather than with attempted murder. It described the suspect as a "simple pawn in a complex game organized by bandits with the aim of taking over the substantial means of the Eurovision 2007 star." Danilko has apartments in Kiev and the surrounding area and bank accounts in his and other people's names, MK wrote.
Intriguingly, the tabloid even said investigators were looking into a political motive, since Danilko announced his intentions to become a Rada deputy last year and founded a party called "For Our Own." The singer received plenty of anonymous phone calls ordering him to pull out of politics, and he eventually ended his campaign, MK wrote.
The slightly suspicious thing about this story is that MK only quotes Danilko and his manager, not any police sources. And the online readers weren't slow to put it down as a PR stunt. Especially since the singer does have a new album coming out.
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