Reid MP Fiona Martin targeted with ‘threatening messages’ after Simeon Boikov encounter

A Liberal MP has said she was left “shaken” after a “self-declared agent of Russia” approached her with a cameraman and tried to prevent her from leaving so he could ask her questions.

A Western Sydney Liberal MP has been targeted online with “threatening” messages and phone calls after she avoided an “intimidating” encounter at a public campaign event.

Reid MP Fiona Martin said she and her staff were “shaken” after Simeon Boikov, a “self-declared agent of Russia” who produces YouTube videos as the “Aussie Cossack,” approached her meet-and-greet event in Cabarita Park on Monday morning with a cameraman and tried to prevent her from leaving so he could ask her questions.

Liberal Reid MP Fiona Martin appears to try and leave her campaign event in Cabarita Park but ‘Aussie Cossack’ Simeon Boikov stands in her path. Picture: Supplied

Simeon Boikov follows Fiona Martin to ask her questions with his cameraman and later posted the video to his YouTube channel. Picture: Supplied

Ms Martin shared several examples of the abusive messages she had been sent since the incident, including one where she was told to kill herself.

“Your (sic) a grub go neck yourself,” one message said.

“Total disgrace to this country. How dare you treat the Aussie Cossack like that he is a hero. You need to resign.”

In another message Ms Martin was called a “disgrace” and told to “step down” from her role.

“We’ve been shaken by this,” she said. She said she had reported the online activity to NSW Police and the AFP.

“There’s a lot of [people online] that are calling our office and sending quite threatening messages on my phone.

“It’s quite horrible.”

Fiona Martin will recontest her Western Sydney seat of Reid. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gary Ramage

Mr Boikov is pro-Putin, and once described Australia as an “enemy state” for its sanctions on Russia.

Dr Martin said she was stopped from leaving the scene on two occasions when Mr Boikov stood in front of her car.

“I couldn’t drive out of the car park because he was leaning over my car,” she said.

“I was held for a period of time, I wanted to drive off but I didn’t want to run over him.”

Dr Martin said she was “advised for security reasons to move” from the event, but was now being attacked by people online for “running away” from Mr Boikov.

“I’m trying to do my job to be available to my community in different parts of the electorate, I don’t think elected reps or anyone for that matter … should be intimidated,” she said.

“I‘m happy to talk to everybody, I listen to everybody … but it’s the way you conduct yourself that’s important.”

Mr Boikov shared several videos of the incident, including one called, “hilarious police operation ordered by Fiona Martin MP”.

Simeon Boikov filmed his attempt to speak with Fiona Martin at a campaign event. Picture: Supplied

In the video, Mr Boikov explains he and his cameraman are planning to go to Dr Martin’s “meet Fiona” event in the park to ask her questions.

Mr Boikov can be seen approaching Dr Martin and telling her he wants to ask her some questions as she walks away from the park toward her car.

“That’s the member for Reid, she’s a coward, she doesn’t want to face the people,” he said.

Photos later show Mr Boikov standing in front of Dr Martin’s car as she tries to drive away.

Pages from a monthly Russian language newspaper printed in Australia called the Russian Frontier and published by Simeon Boikov.

In his video, Mr Boikov then returns to the park as NSW Police start to arrive, where one officer tells him they are responding to a report of “property damage,” which he then said was a “false” accusation.

Mr Boikov leads the Zabaikal Cossack Society of Australia, a group which supported Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.

He has previously denied any Russian involvement in the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 in which 283 people died, including 38 Australians.

Mr Boikov once travelled to Moscow to visit one of the pro-Russian separatist leaders accused of responsibility for the downing of MH17, Igor Girkin, aka “Strelkov”.

Earlier this month he was part of a delegation of anti-vaccine mandate protesters signed into Parliament House in Canberra by the United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly.

In a statement the Australian Federal Police said it does “not confirm who may be the subject of an investigation”.

Asked about the potential safety risk to MPs subjected to ambushes by members of the public, the AFP said it provides, “security advice to Members of Parliament on a regular basis based on protection assessments and any identified threats.”

Originally published as Reid MP Fiona Martin targeted with ‘threatening messages’ after Simeon Boikov encounter