(Kyiv) Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and several senior military officials playing a key role in Kyiv’s resistance to the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) announced in a press release that it had “dismantled a network of agents” of the Russian security services (FSB) who were preparing “the assassination of the Ukrainian president”, and had arrested two Ukrainian officers who were doing so. part.
Other “senior representatives” of the military and political spheres were also targeted, such as the head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov and that of the SBU Vassyl Maliouk, the press release said.
Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Kyiv has already reported several assassination attempts targeting President Zelensky and attributed to Moscow.
Russia has long been known to have agents in Ukraine’s military and security apparatus, although Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian attack and the failure of the offensive on Kyiv in spring 2022 showed the limits of Moscow’s secret services.
This time, the SBU claimed to have arrested “two colonels” from the Ukrainian state service providing security to public officials.
“They were arrested a few days ago,” said a source within Ukrainian law enforcement. “They were really high-ranking men, one of them was the head of a department,” she added.
These two officials would have “transmitted confidential information” to Russia and had been recruited by the FSB before the 2022 invasion, the SBU claimed.
The suspects are accused of “high treason” and “preparations for a terrorist attack” and risk life imprisonment, this source added.
The two men notably wanted to recruit soldiers “close” to President Zelensky’s security service in order to “take him hostage and kill him”, according to the SBU.
“Gift” for Putin
In a video published by the SBU, a man with a blurred face says that he had recommended to the FSB a person ready to “block” the president, probably when the latter was going to record his traditional evening speech.
One of the members of this alleged network allegedly obtained drones and explosives, the SBU claimed.
This network had planned the “liquidation” this week of Kyrylo Boudanov, credited for risky military operations on Russian soil and whose death would have been a “gift” to Vladimir Putin for his inauguration on Tuesday, according to the SBU.
According to this source, one of the arrested colonels had the task of observing a building where Mr. Budanov was to arrive by car and passing this information to the FSB so that Moscow could strike the site with a missile.
This colonel was then supposed to launch a drone attack against possible survivors after which a second Russian missile should have been sent to “erase traces” of the use of the drone, again according to the SBU.
The suspect was to receive remuneration of between 50,000 and 80,000 US dollars, the SBU added in a video.
Multiple attempts according to Kyiv
Kyiv has repeatedly denounced assassination attempts against its president and other senior officials or their relatives.
For example, in April, a man suspected of helping Russian intelligence prepare an attack against Volodymyr Zelensky was arrested in Poland, according to Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors.
Russia has repeatedly been accused of killing Kremlin adversaries at home and abroad, but has always denied the allegations.
The announcement of the defeat of this plot by the SBU came on the day of Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a fifth term.
In recent months, the situation has been more favorable on the front for the Russian army, which suffered humiliating setbacks in the spring and fall of 2022, during the first months of its invasion.
While the Ukrainian army lacks ammunition and recruits, Russian troops are on the offensive in the east and are increasing strikes against inhabited areas across the country.
reference: www.lapresse.ca