KYIV: Ukraine announced on Tuesday it had detained two Ukrainian security officials involved in a plot coordinated by Russia to assassinate senior Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated that two Ukrainian security officials had been detained in connection with the plot, which was allegedly coordinated by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the SBU, the FSB had established a network of agents tasked with carrying out the assassination of Zelensky and other prominent Ukrainian political and military figures.
A statement from the SBU detailed that the network, under the supervision of the FSB in Moscow, included two colonels from Ukraine’s State Security Department who were allegedly passing classified information to Russian operatives. The plot reportedly involved efforts to identify persons within Zelensky’s security detail who could potentially take the Ukrainian leader hostage and carry out the assassination.
Ukraine asserts that Zelensky has been targeted by Russia on multiple occasions, dating back to the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The revelation of this latest assassination plot adds another layer to the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
This recent disclosure comes in the wake of previous arrests related to similar alleged plots against Zelensky. Last month, Ukrainian and Polish prosecutors announced the detention of a man suspected of aiding a Russian-led assassination plot. Additionally, in August of last year, the SBU reported the arrest of a woman accused of conspiring to kill Zelensky by gathering intelligence on his movements outside of Kyiv.
