Ukraine’s civilian counterintelligence (SBU) announced on Tuesday that it had uncovered a group of Russian Secret Service (FSB) agents who allegedly planned to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials. According to the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maljuk, it was supposed to be an action by the Russian secret services on the occasion of the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kyiv
3:36 p.m May 7, 2024
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The information that Moscow was trying to assassinate Zelensky came especially at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, (illustrative photo) | Photo: Zuzana Bönish | Source: Office of the President of the Republic
The network included two members of the State Security Bureau, which is in charge of protecting the country’s most important offices. One of the tasks of the agents was to look for a person among the members of the presidential security who would be willing to take Zelensky as a hostage and then murder him. In addition to Zelensky, agents are said to have planned to kill SBU director Malyuk, head of military intelligence (HUR) Kyryl Budanov and other officials. It is said that they were going to kill the Budanovs before Easter, which Orthodox Christians celebrated last Sunday.
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The SBU said the plans were for one of Russia’s recruited collaborators to monitor the whereabouts of an unnamed protected person and pass the information on to Moscow. Based on coordinates from sources in Ukraine, the Russians were then to launch a repeated missile attack interspersed with a drone strike against the building where the monitored person is located, which would be carried out by agents on the spot. According to the SBU, one of the members of the Office for the Protection of State Officials procured the drones and the charges for them.
“The terrorist act, which was supposed to be a gift for Putin’s inauguration, was actually a failure of the Russian intelligence services,” Maljuk said. At the same time, he warned that “the enemy is strong and experienced and cannot be underestimated.”
The detainees will be investigated on the basis of the section on treason and preparation of a terrorist act. They face life imprisonment.
The information that Moscow was trying to assassinate Zelensky came mainly at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, when Russian troops were heading for Kiev.
CTK
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Tags: Kyiv claims thwarted assassination attempt Zelensky iRADIO
