Ukraine thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate Volodymyr…

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) announced on Tuesday that it foiled a Russian plot aimed at assassinating President Volodymyr Zelensky. The announcement was made on the very day Vladimir Putin began his fifth term as president in Russia.

Taken hostage and killed

According to information made public by the SBU and cited by Reuters, the Russian plot aimed to assassinate both Zelensky and other high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including the head of the military intelligence services (GUR), Kirilo Budanov, and the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk.

Two colonels from the protection unit of the Ukrainian government were arrested, being accused of being part of this plot, the SBU also announced.

The SBU claims that the two suspects were part of a network of agents of the Russian Security Service (FSB), which aims to eliminate President Zelensky.

According to the BBC, the two suspects were looking for volunteers from Zelenskiy’s bodyguards so that they could take the president hostage, and then the Ukrainian head of state would be killed.

Their plans also included the assassination of Kirilo Budanov, which would have been scheduled before the Orthodox Easter.

The information about Budanov’s location should have been obtained through a “mole”, and later that area should be attacked with missiles and drones. The SBU stated that one of the arrested officers had already purchased drones and anti-personnel mines for this action.

“Gift” for Putin

Vasil Maliuk, head of the SBU, emphasized that this attack should have been a “gift to Vladimir Putin” before the start of his fifth presidential term.

Maliuk warned that although the operation was a failure for the Russian special services, the enemy must be treated seriously and in no way underestimated.

The SBU also revealed that three Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents oversaw the planning of the attack, and one of them, Dmitro Perlin, had recruited informants even before the Russian invasion in 2022. Another FSB agent, Oleksii Kornev, would have met conspiratorially in neighboring European states with one of the Ukrainian colonists arrested in this operation.

On the other hand, Volodymyr Zelensky has recently avoided public appearances. On Easter, he sent a video message to the country’s inhabitants, but did not attend any service, precisely in the context of fears regarding some attacks, as Digi24.ro shows.

Putin, a new mandate

Reuters also writes that, until now, the SBU would have thwarted at least five Russian conspiracies aimed at assassinating Zelenski.

The SBU announcement was made on the day Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s president for the fifth time. After the oath, he gave a speech to his nation, thanking the inhabitants of all regions of Russia, as well as the “historic lands”, for their trust, and stating that he considers it his sacred duty to be in the service of Russia.

He also said that he bows to those who participate in the “special military operation”, referring to the war in Ukraine.

“I assure you that in the future the interests and security of Russia will be above all for me. (…) We will determine the fate of Russia ourselves and only ourselves”, Putin also said, according to Libertatea.ro, adding that Russia will pass with dignity “through a difficult, transitional period and will become even stronger”.