It was not the first assassination of Zelensky. Ukrainians have been talking about Russian attempts since the beginning of the war

Among the exposed agents were two representatives of the state security office, which takes care of the protection of the most important offices. The Russians wanted them to find someone among the members of the president’s security who would be willing to take Zelensky hostage and assassinate him.

The detainees are suspected of treason and preparation of a terrorist attack, for which they face life imprisonment. “The terrorist act, which was supposed to be a gift for Putin’s inauguration, was actually a failure of the Russian secret services,” noted SBU director Vasyl Malyuk, who also pointed out that Russia is a strong and experienced enemy that should not be underestimated.

In addition to the Ukrainian president, the agents were supposed to seek the life of SBU director Malyuk or HUR military intelligence chief Kyryl Budanov, whom they allegedly planned to kill before the Orthodox Easter.

The AP agency pointed out that Ukrainian claims about Russian attempts to kill Zelensky are not new. The president himself already stated in the first year of the war in 2022 that there were at least ten assassination attempts on his person.

For example, Polish prosecutors said in April that they had detained a Polish citizen suspected of spying for Russian military intelligence in an alleged attempt to assassinate the Ukrainian president.

Zelensky’s movements are kept secret for security reasons, and his visits within Ukraine are only announced publicly after they have taken place. The same rules apply to events in Kyiv, the agency added.