Plot to Assassinate Zelenskyy? 2 Ukrainian Officials Held | What we Know

Kyiv, Ukraine: Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators have successfully thwarted a Russian conspiracy aimed at assassinating President Volodymyr Zelenskyy along with other prominent military and political figures, Ukraine’s state security service stated on Tuesday. 

According to a statement released, two colonels serving in the State Guard of Ukraine, responsible for safeguarding top officials, have been apprehended under suspicion of carrying out a plot devised by Russia’s Federal Security Service. It was revealed that these colonels had been recruited prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

It quoted the head of the State Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, as saying the plot foresaw an attack ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a fifth term Tuesday. Maliuk said he personally oversaw the top-secret operation to track the plot.

'10 attempts to assassinate me'

Ukrainian claims of Russian efforts to kill Zelenskyy are not new. In 2022, Zelenskyy had said there had been at least 10 attempts to assassinate him as the war with Russia stretches into a third year.

Also, prosecutors in Poland said last month a Polish man had been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian statement said the Russian intelligence agents targeting Zelenskyy 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.

(With AP Inputs)