Ukraine arrests two security officials over plot to assassinate Zelensky
On Tuesday, Ukraine announced that it had apprehended two Ukrainian security officials involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a social media post, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated, “Counterintelligence and (Ukrainian Security Service) SBU investigators disrupted the FSB’s plans to eliminate the President of Ukraine and other representatives of the highest military and political leadership of the state.”
The statement mentioned that two colonels from the State Guard of Ukraine, responsible for protecting top officials, were detained on suspicion of carrying out the plan devised by Russia’s Federal Security Service. These colonels were recruited before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as per the statement.
Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the State Security Service, was quoted in the statement revealing that the plot was designed for an attack prior to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fifth-term inauguration, scheduled for Tuesday. Maliuk mentioned that he personally supervised the top-secret operation to track the plot.
Ukrainian claims of Russian efforts to assassinate President Zelensky are not new, with the president stating in 2022 that there had been at least 10 attempts on his life.
Last month, prosecutors in Poland announced the arrest of a Polish man on allegations of being prepared to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate President Zelensky.
According to the Ukrainian statement, Russian intelligence agents targeting President Zelensky sought collaboration with members of the Ukrainian military close to the president’s security detail who could seize the head of state and subsequently execute him. The operation was orchestrated from Moscow, with the statement providing the names of three alleged Russian spies behind the conspiracy.
The broader plan involved identifying the whereabouts of senior Ukrainian officials and targeting 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, according to the statement.
