Bodyguards arrested
Kidnapping and killing Zelensky: According to Ukraine, Russia planned the attack
Statesman in danger: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
© Ukraine Presidency/Ukrainian Pre/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire / Action Press
Two Ukrainian security guards who are said to have planned an attack on President Zelensky were arrested. Ukrainian officials explain that the order came from Russia.
The Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU says it has discovered an assassination attempt on the Ukrainian president planned by Russia Volodymyr Zelenskyj foiled. Two suspects were therefore arrested. Other high-ranking military officials and politicians were also targets of the attack plans.
The Ukrainian secret service announced on Tuesday that those arrested were two Ukrainian state security officers who were responsible for personal protection. They are said to have spied for Russia’s domestic secret service, the FSB, and should have taken part in the attack themselves.
Drones and explosives for the attack
“One of the tasks of the FSB network was to find assassins among the military who are close to the president’s personal protection,” the SBU in Kiev said in a statement. They were supposed to “take the head of state hostage and kill him.” One of the members of the network procured drones and explosives for this purpose.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine confirmed the investigation and the arrests. However, there was no independent confirmation of the incident outside the Ukrainian security authorities.
SBU chief Wassyl Malyuk and the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, were named as other possible targets of the attacks. The SBU said it published intercepted conversations in which the Russian side offered a Ukrainian officer $50,000 (46,300 euros) for information and participation in an assassination attempt.
Several murder attempts against Zelensky
Russia has had President Zelenskyj in its sights since the offensive in Ukraine began. According to Kiev, several assassination attempts have already been made against the president and other Ukrainian government officials.
In April, a man was arrested in Poland for suspected plots to assassinate Zelensky. In August, Ukrainian intelligence reported the arrest of a woman accused of helping Russia plan an assassination attempt on the Ukrainian president.