Ukrainian official claims Russian President Putin survived assassination attempt: Report

A Ukrainian defence official claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt about two months ago. In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine claimed that an "absolutely unsuccessful attempt" to kill Putin took place around two months back. He further added that the details regarding the incident have not been made public.

Kyrylo Budanov told the media outlet that "there was an attempt to assassinate Putin". Budanov claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was attacked by "representatives of the Caucasus".

He did not reveal the location of the "unsuccessful attempt" to assassinate Putin about two months ago. Notably, the Caucasus, also known as Caucasia, is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea comprising of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and parts of Southern Russia.

Russian President Putin undergoes surgery

An assassination attempt on Putin is one of the several claims that have been made regarding the Russian President as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. The claim comes amid reports that Putin had undergone surgery for cancer on the night of May 16 to 17, The Mirror reported.

As per the report, Putin's surgery was successful. The information regarding Putin undergoing surgery was claimed by Telegram channel General SVR, as per the Mirror. It further claimed that there was a problem in his post-surgical recovery and his condition had deteriorated before it started getting better. The channel reportedly said that Putin's media appearances had been pre-recorded and had made use of "canned footage."

The report added that Putin was not present in the information space from May 17 to 19 and he was only available to Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia.

As per the report, a former FSB counter-intelligence service chief and security of Putin's security council took over control of the Kremlin. General SVR claimed that Putin had to undergo surgery as he has been suffering from abdominal cancer. Previously, there were reports that Putin is suffering from brain disorder caused by dementia, Parkinson’s disease or ‘roid rage’ caused by steroid treatment for cancer, the Daily Mail reported citing intelligence officials. 

Image: AP