Plot to kill Zelenskyy disrupted by Ukrainian security service — photo, video

Ukraine’s SBU Security Service has uncovered a network of agents from Russia's FSB's Fifth Service who were planning the assassination of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the SBU reported on Telegram on May 7.

Read also: Russia declaring Ukrainian officials 'wanted', Next up? Former Internal Affairs Minister Avakov

The SBU, with assistance from Ukraine's State Security Administration, preemptively exposed a covert network entrusted by the FSB from Moscow to implement these plans.

This network, supervised remotely by the FSB, included two colonels from the State Security Administration who transmitted confidential information to Russia.

Among the tasks assigned to the FSB's clandestine network was identifying potential assassins among military personnel close to Zelenskyy's security detail, who could abduct and eliminate him.

Read also: Russia puts Volodymyr Zelenskyy on wanted list

The Russian operatives also aimed to eliminate SBU Chief Vasyl Malyuk, Head of the Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, and other senior officials.

The liquidation of Budanov was allegedly planned before Easter.

Read also: Ukraine will not be defeated or destroyed - HUR chief

Russia's plan involved the recruitment of an agent who would surveil the movement of the targeted individual under protection and relay information to Russian operatives, Ukrainian intelligence suggests. A missile strike was planned on the coordinates of the official's location, followed by a drone attack on those remaining at the scene. The Russians then intended to target the area with another missile to destroy evidence of the drone's use.

The State Security Administration colonel provided the agent with weaponry, personally bringing FPV drones, RPG-7 charges, and MON-90 anti-personnel mines to Kyiv, the SBU said.

The SBU documented the colonel's trips for drones and explosives to another Ukrainian region, as well as conversations between a potential perpetrator of the attack and an FSB "curator."

"The knowledge of our special operation was limited to a select few, and I personally oversaw its progress," said Malyuk.

"The terrorist act, intended as a gift to [Russian dictator Vladimir] Putin before his inauguration, turned out to be a failure for the Russian intelligence services. However, we must not forget — the enemy is strong and experienced, and we must not underestimate them. We will continue to work proactively to ensure that every traitor faces the justice they deserve."

Operatives of the Ninth Directorate of the Fifth Service of the FSB oversaw the planning of the attack, namely:

• Maksim Mishustin

• Dmitri Perlin

• Aleksey Kornev

Perlin, in January 2022, became the curator of "moles" recruited before the full-scale invasion of Russia, the SBU said. Until then, they were supervised by his colleague Kornev.

Before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Kornev held a series of covert meetings with the State Security Administration colonel in neighboring European countries. Funds for agents were usually transferred abroad, the SBU said.

Searches were conducted at the suspects' premises, during which relevant weapons and other evidence of criminal activity were discovered.

The suspects have been informed of charges under the following articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code:

• Part 2 of Article 111 (state treason committed during wartime)

• Part 1 of Article 14, Part 2 of Article 258 (preparation for a terrorist act)

The suspects have been remanded in custody, facing life imprisonment if convicted.

Assassination attempts on President Zelenskyy

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy has survived over 12 assassination attempts, the Independent reports suggest. At least one of these attempts was reportedly thwarted by the U.S. CIA, The New York Times reported.

Zelenskyy said in an interview with The Sun in November 2023 that he had survived at least five assassination attempts.

Russia utilized the same GRU (Russian military intelligence) operatives involved in explosions in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, as well as the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, for an attempt on the life of President Zelenskyy, journalist Christo Grozev said in an interview with Russian writer Mikhail Zygar on March 2.

A Russian agent accused of plotting an assassination attempt against Zelenskyy was exposed and detained in Poland, the SBU said on April 18.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine