State safety service says two colonels arrested after it thwarted alleged plan to kill Zelenskyy, different high officers.
Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators declare to have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) mentioned.
On Tuesday, the SBU mentioned in a press release it had uncovered a community of brokers run by Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) whose intention was to assassinate Zelenskyy and different senior Ukrainian political and army officers.
Two colonels within the State Guard of Ukraine, which protects high officers, had been arrested on suspicion of treason to enact the plan drawn up by Russia, the SBU mentioned.
Russia had labored to establish people near Zelenskyy’s safety element, the assertion mentioned, including that the colonels had been recruited earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The 2 had been tasked with discovering somebody near the presidential guard who would take Zelenskyy hostage and later kill him, the SBU assertion mentioned. It didn’t elaborate on when the alleged plot had been foiled.
The assertion quoted SBU head Vasyl Maliuk as saying the plot foresaw an assault earlier than Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a fifth time period on Tuesday.
“The terrorist assault, which was imagined to be a present to Putin for the inauguration, was certainly a failure of the Russian particular providers,” Maliuk mentioned on the company’s Telegram channel.
Maliuk mentioned he personally oversaw the top-secret operation to trace the plot.
There was no fast remark from Russia.
There was additionally a plan to “remove” Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the army intelligence company’s head, the SBU mentioned. Budanov’s assassination was imagined to happen earlier than Could 5, the Orthodox Easter Sunday, it added.
The boys sought to tell the Russians of Budanov’s whereabouts so they may perform missile and drone assaults on the location, it mentioned. One of many arrested males was concerned in transporting and storing drones and explosives for the operation, it alleged.
Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors introduced final month that that they had arrested a person suspected of aiding a Russian assassination plot on Zelenskyy.
In August, Ukrainian intelligence mentioned a girl had been arrested over a plot to kill the Ukrainian chief by making an attempt to uncover particulars of his actions exterior the capital, Kyiv.
Zelenskyy mentioned in 2022 there had been a minimum of 10 makes an attempt to assassinate him because the conflict with Russia stretches into a 3rd 12 months.