The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has reportedly thwarted an assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a statement released by the agency.
The SBU revealed that two of its counterintelligence officers were apprehended in connection with the alleged plot, which was purportedly orchestrated by the FSB, Russia's security agency. The officers are accused of planning to "eliminate the President of Ukraine and other representatives of the top military and political leadership of the state."
The implicated officers, both colonels, are alleged to have been leaking sensitive information to Russia. The SBU's investigation reportedly uncovered an elaborate scheme involving surveillance of the intended targets, followed by a planned rocket attack on a safehouse.
The SBU's statement, released on Telegram, detailed the alleged plot: "Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the affected area with a drone," it read. The agency further claimed that the conspirators planned a subsequent missile attack, aimed at obliterating any evidence of the drone's use.
The SBU also alleged that Russia intended to "eliminate" Yasyl Malyuk, the head of its own department, along with Kyryll Budanov, the head of the State Administration of Ukraine, and other high-ranking officials. The agency claimed to have thwarted an assassination attempt on Budanov, a key figure in Ukrainian Intelligence, "before Easter". Ukraine celebrated Easter on May 5.
This is not the first reported attempt on President Zelensky's life. Last month, a man was arrested in Poland, accused of plotting to assassinate Zelensky in coordination with Russia. The suspect, identified as Pawe? K, was charged with "reporting his readiness to act for foreign intelligence," according to the prosecutor's office.
Since the ground invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been several reported attempts on the life of the Ukrainian President. In March 2023, Polish government officials informed the BBC that a group of foreign citizens were arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia. The alleged spy network is accused of installing secret cameras at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport to film transport infrastructure used to deliver aid to Ukraine.
Mikhail Podolyak, a presidential adviser to Zelensky, previously claimed that the Ukrainian leader had survived more than a dozen attempts on his life in the first two weeks of the war alone. As early as March 2022, Ukrainian Pravda reported that the Ukrainian military had "destroyed" a Chechen outfit tasked with "eliminating" Zelensky.
Login