Ukrainian colonels responsible for the president’s personal security would personally participate in his kidnapping and murder, in the service of Moscow. Volodimir Zelensky’s life has been under constant threat. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported this Tuesday (07/05) that it had thwarted Russian plans to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other politicians in the country. Two officers from the state security department, responsible for Zelensky’s personal protection, were arrested in this context. Both have the rank of colonel.
They allegedly provided Russia’s domestic intelligence service, FSB, with information in exchange for money, and personally participated in the attack. “One of the tasks of the FSB network was to find, among the military, assassins close to the head of state’s personal security, to take him hostage and then kill him”, stated the SBU statement. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed the information.
Zelensky’s life under constant threat
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 22, 2022, Zelensky has faced multiple attacks on his life.
In August 2023, a woman from the southern region of Mykolaiv was arrested in connection with a plot to assassinate him. She would have gathered information about Zelensky’s planned visit to the region in order to enable a fatal Russian air strike. The SBU caught her “red-handed” as she tried to “pass intelligence to the attackers.”
In April 2024, a Polish man was accused of aiding another Russian assassination plot against Zelensky. He reportedly agreed to provide information to Russian spies about the security of Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, which the president often uses on his trips abroad.
After the plot was discovered by Ukrainian authorities, the perpetrator was detained in his country and charged with “readiness to act by foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland”, a crime that carries up to eight years in prison.
In addition to assassination plots, Zelensky has been the target of threatening incidents during his many visits to the front lines and cities under Russian bombing.
During a visit to the coastal city of Odessa in March, a Russian missile exploded near a convoy carrying the head of state and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The group felt the impact of the attack, about 500 meters away, and saw a “mushroom-shaped” cloud of smoke. Zelenski and Mitsotakis were unharmed, but the attack caused five deaths.
av/le (AFP, DPA, ots)
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