07 May 2024 , 18:46
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Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has already foiled "more than a dozen" assassination attempts after it emerged that he has narrowly escaped death again.
Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators said they dismantled a Russian plot to assassinate the president, along with other senior political and military figures.
Two State Guard of Ukraine colonels - whose role is to protect high-ranking officials - have been taken into custody for allegedly enacting a plan drawn up by the Russian FSB. The two officers are said to have been recruited before the war broke out in February 2022.
But it's not the first time Zelensky has been targeted. Weeks after the February invasion, reports emerged that alleged Vladimir Putin had told Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to hunt down and liquidate Ukraine's leaders.
Ukrainian spymaster Major General Kyrylo Budanov (Kyrylo Budanov/e2w)In March, commandos from Chechnya were deployed to assassinate Zelensky. But they didn't get far and were quickly taken out by Ukraine's intelligence service. In that same month, a Russian private military company called Redut was given a similar task - to infiltrate and eliminate the political leadership. The operation - in which more than 1,000 fighters reported for duty - was unsuccessful as up to 90 per cent of the soldiers were slaughtered when they tried to seize institutions in Kyiv.
Putin accused of surrounding himself with same 'actors' at series of events
Ukrainian secret service operatives swoop on the "Russian FSB" agents (SBU; e2w news)A year later in August 2023, it emerged that another assassination had been prevented when a woman was arrested on suspicion of gathering information about Zelensky's holiday to Mykolaiv. In April 2024, Pawel K - a Polish national - was also seized. He was accused of trying to organised the president's assassination at a Polish airport.
It's currently unclear exactly how many attempts have been made against the president's life, but his adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said he believes it's "more than a dozen".
Regarding the attempt that emerged today, State Security Service head, Vasyl Maliuk, was quoted as saying the plot foresaw an attack before Russian President Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a fifth term on Tuesday. Maliuk said that he personally oversaw the top-secret operation to track the plot.
Ukrainian claims of Russian efforts to kill Zelensky aren't new. Zelensky said in 2022 there has been at least 10 attempts to assassinate him, and now the war with Russia has stretched into its third year.
Zelensky's movements are kept secret for security reasons, and his visits around the country are publicly announced only after he has left. News of events he holds in Kyiv is usually embargoed until they are over.
Zelensky proved to be a valuable asset for his country as the war against Ukraine's bigger neighbor grinds on, and as Kyiv's depleted forces wait for more troops and weapons. He has urged his people to keep fighting and instilled a belief that Ukraine can prevail.
The Ukrainian statement said the Russian intelligence agents targeting Zelensky sought out members of the Ukrainian military close to the president's security detail who could take the head of state hostage and later kill him. The operation was run from Moscow, it said, providing the names of three alleged Russian spies behind the conspiracy.
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, which carries a life sentence, the statement said.