Ukraine says it foiled Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky
KYIV, Ukraine—The Ukrainian Security Service said it foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky by striking his convoy with missiles and drones, calling it the latest attempt by Moscow to eliminate the Ukrainian leader. The agency, known as the SBU, said it had detained two senior officers in the country’s Department of State Security, which is responsible for protecting the president. The SBU said they were two of five agents working on the plot under the direction of Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB.
The agency said the group was also planning to kill SBU Chairman Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, and the country’s top military-intelligence officer, Lt.
Gen. Kyrylo Budanov. Malyuk said the plot was supposed to be a “gift" for Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his Tuesday inauguration for another six-year term.
A Kremlin spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. “The terrorist attack…was actually a failure of the Russian special services," Malyuk said. The alleged plot comes as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian forces are losing ground in the east as they desperately await fresh shipments of weaponry from the U.S.
Russia’s army has seized several villages in recent weeks in the eastern Donetsk region and is mounting a frontal assault on the city of Chasiv Yar, which sits on a high point in the area. The SBU said the plot would have involved a series of strikes on vehicles carrying Zelensky and the other targets. Once Russians received the coordinates, they would send a missile strike.
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