Ukrainian President Zelensky is considered the target of Russian attack plans – and they were apparently very specific: two members of his presidential guard were arrested. The head of the elite unit has to go now.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the head of his bodyguard, Serhiy Rud. The reason is apparently foiled attack plans. Several Ukrainian media outlets reported this unanimously, citing a presidential decree. The reason for the dismissal was not given.
Rud had headed the department since 2019. She is responsible for the personal security of the president and other members of the government and their families. According to information from Kiev, several assassination attempts against the president and other government officials have been thwarted since the Russian war of aggression began in February 2022.
Secret information passed on
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian secret service SBU announced the discovery of Russian attack plans against Zelensky. Two high-ranking officers from the bodyguard were also arrested. This is the department that Rud led. Both officers are said to have passed on secret information to Russia.
The secret service agents in Kiev placed responsibility for the planned attack on their Russian colleagues from the FSB. “One task of the FSB network was to find assassins among the military who are close to the president’s personal protection so that they could take the head of state hostage and then kill him,” the SBU statement said.
Possible dates for attacks mentioned
In addition, SBU chief Wassylyi Malyuk and the head of army intelligence Kyryl Budanov were also named as potential targets. Budanov should therefore be killed before Orthodox Easter on May 5th. To do this, the recruited agents should hand over the coordinates of the house where Budanov is staying. This should then be destroyed with a rocket.
To corroborate the allegations, the SBU published a recording of a phone call that had apparently been tapped. One of the officers is said to have been offered $50,000 (the equivalent of 46,300 euros) to take part in the assassination attempt.