Status: 11/26/2021 6:01 p.m.
According to President Zelensky, the Ukrainian secret service has uncovered plans for a coup. Both Ukrainians and Russians are said to be involved. The Kremlin denied any involvement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a coup d’état is planned in his country next week. He had intelligence information that there would be a coup on December 1 or 2, he said at a press conference. There are audio recordings of an alleged meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials at which a coup plan was discussed, the president said. He pointed to a possible involvement of the richest oligarch in Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov.
Perhaps the entrepreneur was just supposed to be drawn in and nothing to do with it, added Selenskyj. But he will confront Akhmetov with the recordings. The Ukrainian president did not provide any further information about the sound recordings or the coup plans, nor did he specifically accuse the Russian government of being involved. When asked whether Russia had a hand in this, Zelenskyi simply said that he could not talk about it.
The Kremlin denies any involvement
The Moscow government immediately stated that it had nothing to do with an alleged coup and had no plans to participate. “Russia never deals with such matters,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov of the Interfax agency. Akhmetov also immediately spoke up and accused the Ukrainian president of spreading an “absolute lie” if he brought him into connection with such plans.
Zelenskyi’s statements about a planned coup dated from a phase of increasing tensions with Russia. The government in Kiev and western states accuse Russia of fueling tensions by deploying large troops on the border with Ukraine. They feared this might indicate plans by the Kremlin to invade. The government in Moscow denies any warlike intent and for its part speaks of increasing NATO activities in the region.
Stoltenberg warns Russia of the consequences of an invasion
Zelenskyi said Ukraine was fully in control of its borders and was prepared for any escalation of the conflict with Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia that any attempt to invade Ukraine would result in a reaction. “If Russia uses violence against Ukraine, there will be a price and consequences,” said Stoltenberg. He did not comment on what the consequences of such an invasion could be.
According to Ukraine, after a maneuver at the beginning of the year, Russia had around 90,000 soldiers stationed near the joint border. Units of the Russian army are therefore in the vicinity of Jelnja, about 260 kilometers north of the border. Moscow refuses to provide details of troop movements on its own territory. “This military armament is unprovoked and unexplained,” said Stoltenberg. He admitted that there was no certainty about Russia’s intentions but said that “this is a military build-up by a country that has invaded Ukraine before”.