Two Ukrainian security officials have been taken into custody for allegedly plotting to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the security services informed.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russia is allegedly involved in and coordinated the plan to assassinate Zelenskyy and other top officials of the government.
“Counterintelligence and (Ukrainian Security Service) SBU investigators disrupted the FSB’s plans to eliminate the President of Ukraine and other representatives of the highest military and political leadership of the state,” the SBU announced on social media, as per AFP.
Reportedly, President Zelensky has been facing several attempts on his life since Russia began its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In August 2023, a woman from the Mykolaiv region was arrested for gathering intelligence about Zelensky’s planned visit to Mykolaiv.
The woman was accused of planning to orchestrate a Russian airstrike to kill the President, and was caught red-handed while attempting to pass intelligence to the invaders, CNN reported quoting SBU officials.
Earlier this year, a Polish man was also charged with assisting in another alleged plan by Russia to assassinate Zelensky. He allegedly agreed to provide information to Russian spies about security at Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, which Zelensky uses to travel for his official foreign trips, the agency added.
Ukrainian authorities were able to uncover the plot, and the man was detained and charged in Poland.
In addition to these assassination plots, Zelensky has had several close encounters during his visits to front lines and cities under Russian bombardment.
During his visit to the coastal city of Odesa in March, a Russian missile exploded near a convoy carrying Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Although the group felt the impact of the strike, which landed about 500 meters away from the convoy and created a mushroom cloud of smoke, neither Zelensky nor Mitsotakis were harmed.
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