Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top military and political figures, Ukraine’s state security service said on Tuesday.
Two colonels of the Ukrainian State Guard, which protects senior officials, were detained on suspicion of implementing the plan drawn up by Russia’s Federal Security Service, according to a statement. The colonels were recruited before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to the statement.
It quoted the head of the State Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, as saying the plot envisaged an attack before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a fifth term on Tuesday. Maliuk said he personally supervised the top-secret operation to track the plot.
Ukrainian claims about Russian efforts to kill Zelenskyy are not new. Zelensky said there have been at least 10 attempts to assassinate him in 2022 as the war with Russia extends into its third year.
Additionally, Polish prosecutors said last month that a Pole had been arrested on accusations of being willing to spy on behalf of Russian military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian statement said Russian intelligence agents targeting Zelenskyy searched for members of the Ukrainian military close to the president’s security team who could take the head of state hostage and then kill him. The operation was carried out from Moscow, he said, providing the names of three alleged Russian spies behind the plot.
The broader plan was to identify the location of senior Ukrainian officials and target them with a rocket attack, followed by drones and missiles.
The two Ukrainian colonels were arrested on suspicion of treason, a penalty that carries life in prison, according to the statement.
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