Ukrainian intelligence said Tuesday (May 7) it has foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials.
Two colonels of Ukraine’s State Security Administration (UDO) have been detained over suspicion that they were working for the Russian intelligence agency Federal Security Service (FSB).
Zelensky in an interview last year said that he had survived at least five assassination attempts since the start of Russia’s full-scale war.
The Ukrainian security service (SBU) said other Ukrainian top officials, such as military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov and SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk were also on the Russian hit list.
The FSB network aimed to find perpetrators among the military close to Zelensky’s security, “who could take the head of state hostage and then kill him,” according to the SBU.
According to Malyuk, the Russian plot has been foiled but they should not lower their guards.
“But we must not forget – the enemy is strong and experienced, he cannot be underestimated,” he said.
As per the SBU, the alleged assassination plot was supervised by Maxim Mishustin, Dmitry Perlin, and Alexey Kornev, who are employees of the FSB’s fifth service.
In August 2023, a woman was arrested from the Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, who was allegedly in contact with the Russians. She was allegedly working on plans to inform Russia about Zeleneksy’s visit to Mykolaiv so that Moscow could take out the Ukrainian president in an airstrike.
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In April this year, a Polish man was arrested for allegedly aiding another Russian plot to kill Zelensky.
He was charged with “readiness to act for foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland,” an offence which carries up to eight years in prison.
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(With inputs from agencies)
