Let's for one second pretend every single thing about this 'Putin killed a high treasonous traitor' is actually true. Erm, so?
I think their strategy is to not try to wriggle out of it, but to simply lie, lie and lie again. It's what they do. They tell lies that they know everyone (other than Ash) knows are lies and then wait for it to go away and act as though it never happened.
I think there are actually different Russian words for lies that are *real* lies and lies that are told because they suit you even though everyone knows you are lying.